Planeptune in Sunset
by Subsurface
Summary: Planeptune, recovering from a state of turmoil before Uzume's birth, today spans far and wide. However, Uzume would quickly learn that immortality does not mean invincibility. Contested from threats without and within, would she have the resolve to serve her nation, or would Planeptune disintegrate?
1. Disastrous Concerns

In this story, we venture into a strange world populated by few nations, each having a ruler of incredible physical might. These rulers, known as Console Patron Units or goddesses, do not consolidate control over their people in a manner akin to dictators. Instead, an unusual (and oftentimes dangerous) phenomena known to the CPUs as "share energy" is generated by the people and put through their faith into their goddesses. This energy, through natural means, can only be shared willingly.

Three nations are present in the main continent. Lowee, Lastation, and Planeptune. There used to be many more, but they all collapsed in on themselves after the reign of particularly negligent rulers. Of those, the most significant nation was that of Tari, which ruled as an explicit dictatorship. Enslavement of its own citizens caused the governing powers' share energy and weaponry to pale in comparison to the strength of the tools available to resistance forces.

What happened after independence from Rei Ryghts' rule was catastrophic. Because of the usage of share energy to prevent natural disasters, the geological and meteorological stability of the planet was precarious in its absence. Tectonic plate movement, forces long suppressed by the CPUs' spell, exploded into a series of earthquakes, landslides, and volcanic eruptions. The amount of ash that went into the upper atmosphere was enough to cause a cooling effect on the planet, turning many parts of the current nations of Planeptune and Lowee into tundra, and lowering sea levels by several meters.

The fact that many others sought the powers of a CPU during Rei Ryghts' rule only exacerbated the problem. Most of those CPUs were killed in a rampage courtesy of her doing, through the use of a sword whose form and name were lost to the ages. There were seven other CPUs, but only one of them was of significant strength to challenge the Tari goddess.

That title was for the ruler of the slightly older nation of Navox, and the one responsible for the current dependence, and subsequent withdrawal symptoms, of CPU rule. Going by the name of Athena, (read: Odyssey) her mastery of share energy and knowledge of its true nature made her almost appear magical to her citizens. She was also the only goddess that Rei Ryghts failed to destroy, but still lost most of her powers in the ensuing fight, and her will was fragmented into numerous entities.

One such entity was the product of her malice and cunning. Athena's pursuit of conquest over other nations and disdain for anything that sought to regulate her was contradictory to not only her training as a medical practitioner, but also her unadulterated vanity. This entity, splitting off the True Goddess's original form, is two-faced, bloodthirsty, and powerful. Robotic monstrosities were brought to life through her hands, and Lowee scouts have reported her to use aliases alluding to combinations of numbers and/or letters. Under no circumstances should a CPU face her alone.

The other half of Athena's body was transformed into a medical expert and necromancer. Her vanity is drastically different than that of cartoon villains in that she praises subtlety and professional allure over explicit flashiness and drastically distinguishing features. Her fighting style is almost unarmed, as she often uses whatever tools she has on hand as a wand. This includes scalpels, screwdrivers, and even razor blades. It looks ridiculous, but her magical talent is more than enough to make up for that. She's peaceful enough to not be a problem to Loweeans but her strength is dangerous and immense. And just because this half is focused around medicine doesn't mean she has no knowledge about electronics.

However, Rei's two-faced personality makes someone like her a threat, thus we monitor her actions.

* * *

Blanc was trying to lecture Cube on how CPUs are supposed to rule. Cube had all the personality that the other nations' CPUs have. Conviction, bravery, and endowment. She actually had sizeable breasts, unlike her older sister Blanc nor her younger sister Rom. Blanc was satisfied by Cube's performance in making the popular NXY-A. Cube even had responsibility in making the popular N-6. But both were done under the supervision of her sisters. Blanc helped her with the mobile device while Rom helped the N-6.

Cube wanted to make something on her own terms, without Rom's pestering and Blanc lording over her.

Meanwhile, Blanc wanted to retire from being the nation's CPU, and while Rom might seem to be a better fit, she doesn't know if people would accept someone so mentally young to rule the nation.

Cube is powerful and knows how to use her gifts. But her enormous ego made Blanc concerned.

"The CPU candidate of Planeptune, Uzume, was quickly coronated as the nation's new CPU. She's awfully vain, wants to resonate with ideas and concepts that are intangible, and if you ask your neighbors, probably involved in the rise of satanic cults in other nations. Planeptune's space program is nothing to scoff at, but rumors hold that she was chanting dark magic lines during rocket tests…"

Blanc is _fucking boring_. Cube is trying her hardest not to fall asleep. Last thing she wants is to have a pissed off Blanc smacking her around the room with her axe.

"Lastation's CPU, Psyche, had been the result of a failure on your part during the production of the N-6. I expected you to find a solution to this issue but so far Lastation has not only retained some of our former territory, but also expanded out to reach the coastline. It's becoming apparent that a neighboring republic was responsible for her creation but now we can't do…"

Any more of this shit…

_WHUMP_

Cube's asleep. Great.

"**Cube! WAKE THE FUCK UP!"**

"Wraugh! I'm awake, I'm awake! Don't hit me!"

* * *

The rocket ascended into the heavens. Uzume looked to her CPU candidate, Uranus. Her younger sister almost wished to join them, be able to observe the planet (cool and blue as her nation) in weightlessness, but she needed to remain on the ground among her people.

The recent events that led up to her assuming the mantle of her nation's CPU were troubling. The previous CPU was disturbingly negligent, and even malicious. She was abusive even to her oracle, rushes the Basilicom staff to complete work quickly, and was totally, and utterly, toxic. What was once years of success in space travel (and, known to Planeptune's defense ministry, missile development) became days upon weeks of rocket failures, spacetime anomalies, and brownouts.

In order to undo a significant amount of ruined paperwork in Planeptune's Basilicom, Uzume enlisted the help of Chika Hakozaki, a green-haired foreign woman of remarkable skill in software, specifically in accounting and business management software. A master of spreadsheets and word documents, able to articulate thousands of documents into a form that anyone at the workplace can understand.

Chika is paid well, and with the help of her, Uzume, and the CPU candidate Uranus, Histoire is finding that even though work is moving at the same pace, vacation hours are increased and even she is finding time to relax. However, Uzume's view of Ms. Hakozaki is being challenged by Planeptune's old guard.

* * *

11 Month 04 Day  
Sender – n_bell54  
Target – uten  
Subject – Shit Mushrooms

Thunder  
Rain  
Lightning

Uzume, I have security concerns about our top contractor, Chika Hakozaki.

Notice that I am not basing this information off on a whim. For a Basilicom agent, she not only brings results but finds a way to look good while doing it. We were able to maintain a relaxed atmosphere in no small part thanks to her skills. However, serious issues are arising with her workplace behavior.

Chika's _supposed_ to be only looking at declassified and public documents, but she often volunteers to manage papers that are often marked as _secret_.

More importantly, there are frequent, rampant cybersecurity attacks against the _environment ministry_, which is pertaining to details about not only dogoo populations and freak weather patterns both within and outside the nation's borders, but also _research into the nature and function of CPUs_.

This level of malicious activity wasn't even a _thing_ before Chika was around.

It's like someone _knows_ something juicy is in the environment ministry's records, and probably made correlations between the branch's bloated budget (especially compared to defense) and the fact that a CPU should theoretically make such a part of government redundant.

This becomes even more egregious when it's considered that she often, unceremoniously, hands me documents from the ministry of defense but often tries to do secret work involving the other branches.

But without solid evidence to try her for espionage, all I could do is watch. Chika is far too popular among the Basilicom staff, so her discharge would decimate Planeptune share energy.

I would advise you to remain vigilant and remain firm in maintaining her security clearance as-is. It is quite possible that she seeks to ascertain the secrets within our research and distribute it to the other nations. Not only would such a situation cause a scandal, but it could jeopardize the mission of the environment ministry. The disasters caused by the string of CPU deaths in the great crash should not be repeated, and it is the environment ministry's role to prepare a contingency plan for that.

We are not yet finished. Do **not** let Chika Hakozaki get her hands on this data.

Danger  
Waters  
Rising

* * *

That email was nothing short of disturbing. Normally, Nado seems like the type to put on events and doing, well, _cool_ things (Uzume's thoughts, not mine) to boost Planeptune's shares. Instead, he's apparently moderating the _environment_ and _defense_ ministries. If what Nado is saying is true, then at least there's the fortune of the environment ministry having tons of declassified documents.

On top of that, Chika _has_ been displaying precisely the kind of _obsessive_ behavior that Nado complained about. Her behavior is downright _dangerous_ because many administrative branches interlock with each other. The responsibilities of the ministry of energy and defense being related to rockets, bombs, and directed energy weapons is the most obvious inter-branch relationship.

Finally, there's one significant detail that makes the whole experience even more abnormal.

"Nado. Uzume thought she was dreaming when she read something you said."

"You want to talk about it?"

"Yes."

"Not in the Basilicom. Place is too stuffy. And unfortunately, not near the sea. No secrets about that."

Chika Hakozaki's background showed her to be from the islands south of Planeptune's coast. Those islands are disaster-prone. Hurricanes, tsunamis, and earthquakes are common there. If she was a spy, that place would be even less secure than walking straight into Lastation's capital and discussing the new formulation of rocket fuel that was tested yesterday. Regardless…

"Why didn't you tell Histoire?"

"Too soon. Less talking, more running."

Nado vaulted over a bench, jogging (at a pace which would require most people to sprint at) down an alleyway, and then jumping over a wire fence.

Uzume felt compelled to do the same, instead jumping with a front flip over that bench, wall-jumping over the fence, and finishing with a cartwheel as she lands.

"I won't let you overtake me until we are finished. We're going to a jungle, filled with exotic plant life, ruins, and the odd fanged lizard thing standing several feet tall. I'll tell you which species are invasive, so we don't accidentally assault the already fragile ecosystem. If you want a new pair of clothes, I'll wait."

Uzume responded by turning straight into an armor shop containing gear for adventurers.

After seeing the CPU's delayed response to what clothes she wants to wear, and frequently asking for other peoples' opinions on it, Nado decided that a quick trip to the guild wouldn't hurt.

Hm… Jungle Cuts, Kupokitties, and a DDST. The two organics are invasive species, and the robot causing a rampage is obviously bad for the centuries-old trees populating the forest.

Going back, he sees Uzume still trying on clothes. This time she has a leather jacket and a pair of jeans.

"Uzume! I got us some insecticide, antivenom, and tuffmill! Hurry up!"

* * *

"Fish! Trout and eels and cute little piranhas! Can Uzume try to catch one?"

Nado brought Uzume to a river, flourishing with aged, mossy ruins and many species of aquatic life. In the sky were jets, deep blue in color, streaking the rainforest sky.

"I don't like water all that much. If you want to fish, it's with whatever we find here."

Picking up a wooden stick, Nado started poking at the ground in front of him. Satisfied with the results (no snakes, for example) he takes a seat in the foliage.

"Okay. I wanted privacy. This is the best we have. So, we doing this or what?"

"That's _not_ what we are talking about today! Uzume got an email from your-"

"Hakozaki, right?"

"You don't like her right?"

"Hey, just because I write up a bad rap doesn't mean I don't like the person."

By now, Uzume was lying beside her escort.

"What _do_ you like about her?"

"Well, besides superficially, I'm just happy to take a vacation for once without falling behind schedule."

Nado sat upright.

"I don't like the disturbing coincidence between Chika's date of hiring and higher Bascom spam."

"So, you sent it."

"Uh, _yeah._"

"And you didn't tell Histoire?"

"Now, what exact kind of feedback loop would keep someone like Histoire in check? You are a CPU, reliant on the faith of your subjects in order to exert your will. If you want your powers you have to be _cool_. People have to like you and what you represent. And if people really dislike you and want change, a CPU candidate would be made, and they would be more powerful than you."

"You are a lot wordier in private."

"Yeah. Chalk that up to your predecessor. You either learn fast or lick the pavement."

"Uh… Uzume will try to learn fast. So, you are saying that because Histoire has significant administrative powers and expertise, she's more of a threat than an ally in your situation."

"I don't hate her. I hate what she could do if she hates me and everyone else on Planeptune."

"I see… Now, why are you heading the Environment Ministry?"

"Because that matters to me?"

Uzume sat up, meeting Nado at eye contact with an incredulous look.

"I _want_ to work in this field, and I am _good_ at it. I have our nation's interests at heart. Every time I invite Chika to _do_ the declassified field work that I'm doing, she declines."

Uzume isn't just hearing what Nado has to say. She feels an innate power inside of her, feeling his worst nightmares and his greatest dreams.

Liberty. Freedom.

Betrayal. Conquest.

"Okay… you are saying that because Chika Hakozaki doesn't want to get her hands dirty, tries to access files beyond her privileges, and she came right before a tide of spam hit our servers…"

"Yes. She's bad news, but really good at what she does. If we get rid of her, we would be far behind schedule. You still haven't released something that would make us competitive against the next prospective generation that the other nations would produce."

"… Uzume wants to wait a little while before finishing the design."

"…"

Nado wanted to tell her to move faster, but something in him just _told him _to leave it be. Perhaps it is wise for Planeptune to be patient this generation.

"Uzume, I have some advice for you before you start."

Nado stood up.

"Release the devkit early. Figure out the lower limits for how powerful your product is going to be. It can't be as low as the N-6 or Lastation's starter product. It needs to be several magnitudes stronger. Aim for at least six times what was offered at the start of the last shift period."

Uzume's eyes became surrounded with dark lines normally found on insomniacs.

"**Six times?!"**

"We underestimated them last generation. Moore's law states that device strength doubles every 18 months. Developing new products usually takes 4 years, and you are a better calculator than me."

"Uzume is scared. How? How are we going to make this work?"

"Don't ask me. I spend the money, not make it. The Cross-32 failed because of expense, but if something is made to be cheap but can barely compete against the big guys, it's not going to make us money."

"C-can't Uzume make a mobile console or something?"

"One alternative could be to just go third-party and make parts for the other nations. Nobody likes our handhelds. Poor battery life. Absolutely terrible, can't finish any of the good stuff on it."

"Nobody liked our other stuff either…"

Someone approached the pair from behind. Nado turned his head around.

"**Woah!** Umio, what the hell you doing?!"

A young man, wearing a blue lifejacket over a T-shirt and shorts, was responsible for the disturbance.

"Sorry about that, Nado. And this, I assume, is the new CPU?"

"How did you find us? Why did you come after us?"

"You scared the fish, so dad was upset about that."

"ERGDTZRG whatever. You applied to be a bodyguard for Uzume, right?"

"Yeah but I thought the interview was next-"

"Uzume, do you like this person?"

"Oh yes! Uzume finds him to be a handsome young man!"

Suddenly, a DDST appears from the underbrush, attacking the party of three. Nado looks a bit fazed, but claps his hands together and brandishes his beam saber.

"Alright. Sounds good. Let's get to work!"

* * *

Wielding a giant staff, Arfoire makes her way through the brush. Venomous spiders and snakes crawl through the foliage, but her goddess powers protect her from the threat they pose to humans.

Her DDST should be more than enough to understand what kind of fighter Uzume is. She just needs to bide her time and wait. She'll have her revenge against humanity for its hubris.

* * *

Rei Ryghts has been standing in the Planeptune district of Leanbox, overlooking the Capital where her archrival used to rule. The age of Navox has ended a long time ago, and she remembers Navox being a lot smaller than Planeptune currently is. But she knows that the CPU of Planeptune doesn't actually rule the territory, and the loyalists are living in the waters further west.

Lowee ruled an equally large expanse of territory which had even more anomalous phenomena than Planeptune, but has fragmented into two nations, one being Lastation, which spans over her former nation of Tari, and the other being the former nation of Eden, now subjugated by White Heart.

Believing that the concept of Console Patron Units are failures, Rei tried to destroy all the CPUs, and subsequently herself, in order to free both herself, who wasn't able to handle the mental state required to exercise her powers, and the humanity that she was once part of. She had no idea about the consequences of destroying a CPU until she returned to the dead nations.

The rise of the CPUs courtesy of Athena left the world worse off after their absence than before their birth. Planeptune's civilians sought to restore the world to its original state before their conquest.

Athena split into two halves. Rei once again could bring justice to the one responsible for this nightmare.

* * *

Chika Hakozaki returned home after a long week at work. Trying to take care of her older, human sister was more than a handful. Paralyzed from the waist down, her catheter had to be changed every week.

Their parents died while the mother was pregnant, courtesy of a missile strike from Lowee.

She tried to cross the border to the offending nation but was unceremoniously rejected by border security. They believed that the green-haired woman was a potential spy, and since Chika's mission required her to access files about the CPUs her chances in that nation became remarkably bad.

Lastation is too young and ravaged by war to be a reasonable replacement.

So, Chika Hakozaki remains in Planeptune.

Her time is limited. Her sister is losing more and more bodily functions each month. In a year, she'll be unable to speak. In two years, she would be dead.

She cannot waste time, but if she gets removed from the Basilicom she did all that work for nothing.

Making a connection to Planeptune's Basilicom, she tries to feed it another worm through a VPN.

Access denied.

"Chika?..."

She turns around, meeting her eyes with the blonde lying beside her in bed.

"What is it, sis?"

"I can't feel my legs…"

Sitting upright, Chika moves to massage her sister's legs. Trying to get blood flowing through her body, she gets more and more desperate.

"Can you raise your arms up for me?"

The blonde complied. Raising both her arms up to the ceiling, then behind her back…

"Good. Put them down again."

"Chika?"

"What is it, sis?"

"I don't want to die…"

Pressing the blonde's face against her breasts, Chika embraced her sister.

"I know Vert, believe me, I'm trying my best…"

Letting go, she returns to her seat.

"I'm trying to get you back on your feet. Get some rest; your body needs it."

Returning to her seat, Chika Hakozaki tries to find another vulnerability in Planeptune's systems. Whatever it takes to make her older sister live, she's going to do it.


	2. Strategic Initiative

_Many years later, in Hyperdimension…_

Ram and Rom were at Leanbox. Blanc dropped them off while she's on official business with Vert. Chika didn't like babysitting after these kids but it's either her or Vert, and the thought of these two with Vert fills her heart with something dreadful.

Out of all the CPU candidates, she hates Ram and Rom the most. Uni is the most tolerable, but she can't put her finger on why she finds Rom to be more grating than even Nepgear, who attracts more of Vert's attention. Even still, if something bad happens to these two then Blanc would never let the twins near her again, which would lead to her CPU taking responsibility for them in subsequent visits.

Ram, being the more outgoing of the bunch, is asking Chika billions of questions. It's either that or she's blowing stuff up. One time, Chika tried calling her out on it, saying that she's "boring" just to piss her off. Not long after, half the Basilicom was covered in napalm courtesy of her spells.

Rom, however, is incredibly scared of the oracle. Both don't know why, but when meeting her, the CPU candidate feels a weight in her heart and a chill down her spine.

To Chika's surprise, another guest appeared at the Basilicom. Better not interrupt Vert's meeting with the Lowee CPU. Besides, she needs _something_ to take her mind off the two brats.

"Don't worry, darling! I'll get it!"

Stopping at the front desk, it was to her surprise that she came across a representative of Lastation.

"Uni?"

Smiling, the CPU candidate greeted the oracle.

"On business. Is it alright if I talk to you instead of Vert? Noire is pretty busy right now herself."

"Chika! I thought you are going to play with me!"

Turning around, Hakozaki brandished her staff.

"Just one moment, Uni."

A blast of sand emanated from her weapon, turning to a cement-like substance covering Ram's hands. Inside however was a bucket. Of nails. Even Uni could see what Ram tried doing.

"What in the world are you thinking, Ram? A bucket of nails is a 'surprise'?!"

"No fair! I can't get this off of me!"

Chika was callously clapping her hands at that display of graceless defeat.

"Now Ram, I suggest you go back to your second older sister and get that gunk out of your nails. It's just sand and water, so I don't think you should be that worried. But if you want, I can arrange for Blanc to show up and tell her just what _exactly_ is in that little souvenir of yours…"

Rushing out of the room, the little punk tripped over Rom, who was hiding beneath one of the curtains draping the windows of Vert's residence.

Smiling, Chika turned towards Uni.

"That takes care of those two for now. So, Uni, what do you want to talk about?"

"I wanted to know what you think about our partnership for the online service that's being set up between our nations. I know Vert and Uzume went into a heated argument recently, but I want to know what your thoughts are on that issue."

Sitting contemplatively, Hakozaki looked towards the CPU candidate.

"Is it really that obvious? Sarcasm aside, I don't think Neptune's pulling the strings anymore in her own nation. She's peaceful, almost too peaceful to be in her position. Histoire wasn't returning my calls and I heard that Kei's back in Lastation again. If that's true we might be seeing another console war."

Uni stiffened at that.

"Chika? Ram and Rom are right there you know…"

Chika stiffened at that.

"B-Besides, Kei's still trying to get her coffee shop going, as usual. I-don't-see-why-she-would-be-here…"

"Vert, please hurry up…"

Bursting out of the back-hall doors, Vert and Blanc walked out, looking rather beat up.

"Big sis!"

Chika rushed over to Vert, putting the two in a deep embrace complemented by their massive cleavage. Blanc twitched in annoyance and increased her pace, moving past the front desk.

"Uni?! Where's Ram and Rom?"

Uni pointed at the two girls.

"What the hell?! Why is there quick dry cement over Ram's hands?"

"It was terrible! She came at me with a bucket of nails…"

Chika was faking hysteria.

"Again, what the hell?! How did she get her hands on a bucket of nails?"

"Okay Chika, you can stop with that act. Blanc, we had been undergoing renovations recently."

Player 2 burst out of the front door.

"Ram! What did-a you do with my building supplies?!"

Approaching the CPU candidate, he noticed that the bucket of nails is covered in cement.

"What-a did-ya do with my cement?!"

Seeing Blanc, his skin lost a lot of color as he shrieked in fright.

"L-Lady-a White Heart, uh-a please-a don't…"

Loosening her edge taken a large amount of effort on Blanc's part, but she managed.

"No, no. It's fine. Ram is pretty good at sneaking up on me, so I guess this was bound to happen."

Player 2 fainted, apparently from his conflicting emotions rushing through his head.

"Great. Just fucking great. **RAM! GET THE FUCK OFF YOUR ASS AND GET OVER HERE!"**

Ram got off her ass alright. She got off and ran straight towards the exit, only to trip over and fall, knocking the bucket out of her hands and fragmenting the cement that stuck it there in the first place.

Fortunately, CPUs don't bleed. Otherwise some of Ram's skin would be peeled off. Instead, she is treated to a rash and several bruises.

And the object that tripped her was Player 2's body. Even Chika was startled from this shitshow.

"Uh, Blanc?"

Storming after her sister, Blanc turned around to acknowledge the Lastation CPU.

"Yeah, I know. Rom! We're leaving!"

Jumping out of the curtains, Rom hurries after her sister.

"You are _so_ grounded you little sh-"

**THUNK**

Looking over at Chika, Vert displays her dismay at the situation.

"Chika, I think that was a bit much, even for you."

"I-I'm sorry big sis…"

"Chika, you don't need to call me that…"

Looking curiously at the two of them, Vert continues.

"I know that Ram doesn't like you, but you didn't need to cover her hands with cement over something as slight as a bucket of nails. At least try to hold your temper in a bit better, alright?"

"I-I…"

"You don't have to worry about it, they're not going to take me away from you. Besides, weren't you in the middle of a discussion with Uni?"

"How did you come to that conclusion?" Uni asked.

Vert looks contemplatively to the ceiling.

"That should be easy. This is a public space, and Lastation cares about… erm… looking industrious!"

"Vert, I can't believe you think I won't see through such a transparent alibi…"

"Well, I was right, wasn't I?"

"You were correct, only through using a different formula…"

Uni's unamused expression earned her a giggle from Chika. And some snark.

"Well, if we want to defuse this unpleasant situation, should we prepare you some tea? I could get you your favorite magazines and we could read them-"

"No, it's fine. I could make the tea myself; I wanted to try a new recipe. As for the magazines I'm not in the mood right now after talking with Blanc. Besides, you two need more friends."

Walking out of the room, Vert followed up with a call to Noire. Instead, Kei Jinguchi replied.

"Kei! I thought Noire would be-"

"She's not in right now."

"Well now… What is she doing, prepping for the next cosplay convention? Trying to outdo 5pb?"

"Even if I had that information, what's in it for me?"

With a wave of her hand, she dismisses Kei's question.

"Oh, I forget that you are always just business. Either way, I know where Uni is."

"Meeting up with you, I suppose. Did something happen over there?"

"Oh my… What's in it for me?"

Grimacing, the oracle's tone changed from professional to threatening.

"You know that it would be bad relations between us if Uni was endangered by your actions."

"Hm. Good point. She's just doing the same thing as me, I suppose."

"You didn't."

"They were both excited to see each other. They need new friends, after all."

"You did. You left her to Chika."

"What's so wrong about that? She can be professional when she wants to."

"Vert, do you know anything, and I mean _anything_, about the founding of your nation?"

The CPU's face hardens. That question came out of the blue, and she has no idea about how her nation was founded. For all she knew, it sprouted out of nothing, and was there ever since she was born. Uranus sealed away the Deity of Sin, and the other nations were in the middle of fighting each other.

"What's in it for me, Kei?"

"You know exactly what the stakes are here. Spill it."

* * *

Sheathing his beam saber, Nado lumbers across the ground.

"Ugh, so tired…"

Uzume slumped down beside her companion.

Umio was already lying down on the ground, knocked out. His beam saber was lying beside him, deactivated since the safety trigger wasn't depressed.

Grabbing Umio's arm, Nado pulls the young man upright and turns off his saber.

"Umio, get up, you gotta move."

Grunting as if he fell asleep, Umio sat upright. No life fragments for this guy today. The remains of the DDST smolder in front of them. Several cuts and dents bear upon its surface, but the most significant source of damage was an explosion of wires and junk protruding out its backside. Obviously, it wasn't supposed to do that, if the electrical fires have anything to say about it.

Taking a stretch and throwing a breakdance pose just to test his joints, Nado stands back up afterwards to assess his surroundings.

Definitely Athena technology. None of the three nations have machines of this type, not least because of how expensive it is to make, and the number of anomalies required to build it. Inside, however, houses a disruption crystal. A powerful artifact that repels and suppresses share energy. Harmless, even beneficial, to humans, but dangerous to CPUs. Grabbing it, Nado puts it into his pocket.

Breathing deeply, he can feel his strength return to him.

"Uzume, how you holding up?"

Sitting upright, Uzume turns off HDD.

"Uzume misses Histoire…"

"I think this is enough of a vacation."

"I want to go fishing…"

"_Fishing?!"_

Perking up, Uzume stands and heads out to the water. Nado is shaking his head.

"I'm headed back to the Basilicom. I'm not getting myself wet, and I also found something that should be of interest to the boys at home. See you later."

Meanwhile, Arfoire waits behind the tall brush.

So, Uzume almost fights in ranged combat. This is downright unfortunate for her since disruption crystals have limited range. If Uzume's primary means of destroying enemies is through blasting shockwaves at them, using an anticrystal to defeat her is foolhardy.

Not like she cares about having to make a few more dead humans, but it's a nuisance.

* * *

Uranus was sitting in the Basilicom. Uzume ran out looking like she saw a ghost and hasn't come back. When she asked where her older sister went, the answers were varied but point in the same direction.

Uzume was chasing after a man.

She was racing someone trying to become a parkour champion.

She was picking out new clothes.

Someone was offering her tuffmill, probably to get under her pants.

Despite physically looking like she's of age, Uranus's mind was far too underdeveloped to understand some of the things that people are saying about her sister.

Meanwhile, she's in the middle of paperwork, trying to finish off the stuff that Chika given her. Defense spending, new weapons, vehicles, and space exploration. Chika took the day off. She rarely does that, but most people at the Basilicom respect it because of her hardworking nature.

Doesn't help with the fact that there's a lot more illegitimate requests for parts of the Basilicom's database today. Most of the traffic was targeted at the environment ministry, so eventually it was put on standby. It's unfortunate that Uranus can't work on the new biodome project coming out, but she understands the security reason behind it. After all, what's a few more days to a goddess?

Out of the corner of her eye, she spots Chika Hakozaki enter the Basilicom.

"Oh? Chika! I thought you were on break today."

The human shaking her head, she responds to the CPU candidate.

"Yeah I just realized that I forgot something in my office. I won't take that long."

Moving inside, the green-haired woman marched to her office, looking for some important-looking papers. Uranus thought that it was just nothing and continued with her work.

* * *

Back home once again, Chika Hakozaki was operating a remote-controlled robot, looking for the Basilicom power control room. Seeing her target, she heads straight inside. There are actually several rooms that Chika wants to go to, first being the power breaker, so that she can restart the database holding the information she wants to get at.

Then, the server itself. Using external means to hack the machine ended in failure, so she's going to attempt physical access to break inside.

In order for her mission to be complete, she needs to wipe out the evidence that would incriminate her, and her final destination would therefore be the surveillance room.

Cracking her knuckles, she gets through a door. Making a connection, she does what she knows best.

She went this far. Failure is not an option.

* * *

"You did **WHAT** with the N-XY?"

"I'm sorry, I was so lonely for so long…"

"That is **GROSS**."

"Like hell you know what it feels like!"

"Remind me to never share consoles with you. What we are talking about? That's done!"

"Come on, you can't do that to your older sister…"

Blanc is tearing up because Cube found her in the middle of a private moment between her and… something that doesn't have a life of its own.

"I can't do **what** exactly?"

"Blanc, Cube, what are you arguing about?"

Rom walked in on the two having that argument.

"Well that's just **great**. Now Rom heard about you using that _thing_ to pleasure yourself!"

"Don't just say that in front of **Rom!**"

"What, should I say that you also use the handle of your hammer to do the same thing? I mean, I'm just assuming here since I didn't have the displeasure of seeing that myself!"

"Are you fucking kidding me?!"

"Yeah, you just like to **RAM** that deep inside, then once I ask to play one of your saved games your lips aren't so willing to tell me the truth about it! Now if you excuse me, I'm going to wash my hands!"

"Cube, please!"

**THUNK**

* * *

Psyche sits uncomfortably in Lastation, preparing for another invasion. Lowee has been hammering nonstop at securing their military might, even through using anomalous technologies that they have no idea how to use. Planeptune still has more advanced vehicles and missile technology.

However, Planeptune will be facing another energy crisis. With Lastation's strategic oil reserves, an invasion would be incredibly easy, and completely unexpected. It wasn't that long ago that she destroyed Peashy, as a mercenary working for both nations. Now, she's planning to conquer the world. Her oracle, Kei Jinguchi, is debriefing the cartographers that finished scouting the Navox District. Soon, Planeptune would plummet, and she would create an empire.

Her CPU Candidate, Noire, is currently sewing a new dress for herself. Good. Better to keep her out of the way instead of overhearing the battle plans for Lastation's rise. Last thing she needs is a civil war.

* * *

Returning from Capital Jungle is Nado, who was on course for Romium District to share his findings with his subordinates. He already finished reporting the DDST as destroyed to the guild but held on to the disruption crystal for his own purposes.

"Nado! It's terrible! Saboteurs have bombed our uranium deposits!"

"WHAT?! No way! You can't be serious! Where did they strike?!"

He's legitimately shaken by that news. Dangerous, unhinged terrorists, destroying a critical part of Planeptune infrastructure. If it happened in Leanbox, it would be a disaster beyond comprehension!

"Crimson Island, Navox district!"

That's far from a relief. Crimson Island was the same place that Rei Ryghts and Athena faced off at, and despite being in close proximity to the Basilicom, holds a large amount of wasted share energy that could turn explosive if given the proper motivation.

If left to its own devices, the uranium could turn half of Navox District into a **crater**.

Immediately, Nado sets up a conference call with Histoire and the CPUs.

"Damn it, pick up! **YOU.** Officer, what's your name and number?"

"Ivo Towers. E102A998."

He knows this guy already. The info checks out.

"Hold onto this. If I don't return head to the guild and ask for directions to my office. There's a purple inbox, then a green inbox. Put it in the green one."

"Hello?"

"Hell yes! Histoire! This is an emergency!"

"I don't see how it's so much of an emergency that you would call me of all people."

"Crimson Island has been bombed by an unknown threat! Since you are more capable at satellite imagery than I am, I am calling you to help me and Uzume."

"Okay, it would take me three minutes."

Right behind him, Uzume popped up.

"Uzume thought you were headed to the Basilicom."

"Crimson Island. Uranium mine bombed."

"Uzume doesn't see the connection…"

"Forget it…"

Grabbing the CPU, Nado heads straight to a military port.

"**You are too slow!** I'll explain when we have time!"


	3. Lastation Aggression

A man walks in, wearing a dress made of white.

A woman joins him, wearing a black tuxedo.

Walking down the aisle, the two kindred spirits walk up to Histoire, the tome of Planeptune.

Beside Histoire stands a lady wearing a deep purple dress. There is no best man for this event.

Motioning towards the man, Histoire starts her part of the ritual to unfold. He takes a bow.

"Now, would you take the woman beside you, your wife to hold, your partner and one true love in life, from this day forward, through thick and thin, better and worse, richer and poorer, in illness and in health, until death do you two part?"

"Yes, yes! A million times yes!" Snatching the ring from Histoire's hands, he screws it onto his finger.

"Now, would you take the man beside you, your husband to hold, your partner and one true love in life, from this day forward, through thick and thin, better and worse, richer and poorer, in illness and in health, until death do you two part?"

"I do." She puts the ring on her finger, with her fiancé smiling in the process.

"Lilac Heart, you may now kiss the groom."

Pulling the man into a deep embrace, she locks lips with her lover.

"Anonydeath, thank you for being there for Nepgear in ways I never could."

* * *

Vert changes the channel. She was watching nothing but dramas recently and all of them are nearing their conclusions. Not that drama was her first choice in entertainment but she's just not as good at playing video games as she was before. Nothing good on TV, she turns it off.

Sitting upright, she prays to someone, anyone, for a second chance at life. In the end, it's futile. Not even a CPU can fix her condition. All she can hope for is in Chika's willpower and hard work.

Tired and eyes bloodshot, she drifts off into sleep.

* * *

Rom turns off the TV. Her favorite drama was reaching its conclusion, but she feels that something's off. Even if her big sister was depicted in a deeply troubling light, showed her second biggest sister die in a tragic manner, and depicted a far-flung future where the goddesses have abused their powers, it felt nothing stranger than what happened in the last season.

She knows that the production was straight out of Planeptune. She knows that they won't be guaranteed a heroic depiction and was grateful for the show being relatively neutral with its politics. But something just didn't sit right with her…

"That was nice to see. Pretty good writing even if they didn't know us that well."

Rom looked to her older sister. Blanc's head was propped up by a pillow that the two CPUs shared.

"Blanc, you say that anything's good writing."

Sitting upright, the goddess looked towards the younger CPU.

"Rom, anything that you put your heart and soul into is good writing, even if few people like it."

Looking at her older sister, Rom starts expressing concern on her face.

"Writing is tiring, and making a good script is hard. You need a lot of respect to get into what they do."

"Blanc, is something wrong?"

"No, just… nevermind that, Rom. Do you want to draw some pictures?"

"Ooh! Yay!" Some things just don't change with time.

**THUNK**

And some things do.

"Blanc, I decided I want to go through the succession ritual."

Sighing, Blanc stands up.

"I don't think you are ready. Mina."

Coming from behind, the oracle towers over Cube.

"There's a very good reason why you aren't the CPU yet, Cube. But if you insist, you can have it your way. Five years. If you impress me in those five years, the title is yours for keeps."

Straightening, Mina waits for Blanc's next line.

"But if you fail, control over your ascension will be in Rom's hands, and you **_won't_** speak of it again to either of us. Do you understand me?"

Clenching her fists, Cube steels herself. Her posture straightens, waiting for Blanc to make a move.

"I will **not** help you during that time. Are you ready to assume the mantle?"

Cube responds with a nod.

"Very well. Mina, if you could do the honors?"

* * *

**PFFFT**

"What!? Lowee's got a new CPU? What happened to the old one?"

In Lastation, Noire was watching a public broadcast straight from Lowee's Basilicom.

In hindsight, it's fortunate that she's watching Cube getting coronated. If she was looking at Planeptune right now, she'd see the shitshow that her older sister started.

"Kei, are you seeing this?"

Looking at the candidate's screen, Kei notices the news that Lowee is going through right now.

"Are you kidding me right now? She's purple. Isn't that a Planeptune color?!"

"Interesting. Cube being the CPU of Lowee certainly puts a weird one between the relationship between them and Planeptune. Perhaps a migration occurred due to the nations' sheer size?"

Backing out of the room, Kei gets back to work.

It's not much of a secret that Lastation has very high anti-Planeptune sentiment right now. The civilian government claims control of over 50% of the world's geographical space, despite only 20% of it being covered by the CPU's divine protection. And as time goes on, that number is shrinking.

Granted, it was never as bad as Lastation's territory had it, but the doctrine of _noblese oblige_ Lastation citizens believe in boils down to "you rule what you can protect". If it was applied in any context outside the literal reality-warping powers of the CPUs, it would be a very despotic way to live.

Not that, in Kei's opinion, Planeptune is completely immune to power politics. Their constant and expensive pursuit in furthering the space race outcompeted all the other nations' by this generation. Lastation citizens are especially contemptuous about this development. "What, are they going to claim the stars too?" someone said. Lowee shot down one of their spy satellites and the civilian government almost nuked the shit out of the capital in response.

If only they could break Planeptower. The Basilicom of that nation was built as a space elevator to make transportation of materials and manpower to the skies a lot easier. If Planeptower was destroyed, Lastation could effectively take over large swaths of the nation. Obviously, it would grant Lowee some level of sea dominance along the Tari border, but Lastation's size could effectively at least double, taking over Leanbox and Navox Districts and perhaps even parts of the Capital and Romium District.

But with a new CPU in Lowee, Kei fears that things would be turning around for their archrival.

"Psyche, Lowee coronated Cube as its new CPU. Should we abort?"

* * *

Rei Ryghts was at Crimson Island.

She didn't expect Lastation to take aggressive action against Planeptune, let alone something as grave as this. Destroying their energy reserves, the civilian government would be paralyzed, and reliant on its CPU to do any real work. Not only that, but she fears that a runaway reaction could catalyze here.

There are three things that she could do, each with their own vulnerabilities.

One – absorb the share energy. This would stabilize the island but may loosen Rei's screws.

Two – sink the island. Planeptune would face an energy crisis and could implode on itself.

Three – wait for the CPU. Uzume would learn a new power that may turn her into a threat.

She decides to go with number three, but if things get hairy or Uzume turns out to be as crazy as she is, she's going to reevaluate her options. Rei hopes she's making the right decision.

* * *

Uzume and Nado were rushing over to Crimson Island by plane. It's one of the few locations in Navox that aren't being protected by a CPU, due to it being so close to Romium District.

Hours are counting down to minutes, and Nado's clearly becoming impatient.

"Nado, what is going on here?"

Turning to the CPU, Nado attempts to regain his composure.

"Uzume, I hate to say this, but your help is absolutely necessary. Crimson Island was the place where Athena challenged a CPU known as Rei Ryghts. Both of them expended large amounts of share energy in their fight which could be felt and observed to this day. After finding a large uranium deposit there, the Ministry of Energy decided to open a mine, and that mine is targeted by saboteurs."

Pacing to the other end of the room, Nado continues with his explanation.

"Nuclear and share energy don't mix well together; the vector that transmits share energy acts as a decelerator for neutrons. Uranium more readily takes slower neutrons than what fission alone produces, so a nuclear reaction in the presence of share energy can easily become a runaway problem."

"Why build a uranium mine there then?"

"Energy. Renewables alone isn't enough for our needs, sadly. Also, there's a much higher uranium concentration in the seawater surrounding Crimson Island than anywhere in the Capital District."

Reaching the shoreline, Nado pushes Uzume out onto dry land.

"I set up a conference call between us and Histoire. She'll walk you through on how to fix this problem."

Nado walks back to the deck.

"I'll be here. We are only human, and there would be patrols in the water. Stay alive out there."

Departing, the ship starts circling the island.

"Uzume feels so lonely. Histoire?"

_PSSHT_ "I'm always here for you, Uzume. The mines should be a few kilometers northeast of you. Use HDD and fly; it's an open pit. You can't miss it."

Flying upwards into the sky, Uzume sees the disaster site and heads towards it.

In the underbrush, Lastation scouts lie waiting, ready for orders to strike their target.

* * *

Chika Hakozaki got her hands on some futomaki.

It's a significant change of pace from typical Leanbox/Romium fare, which usually consists of burritos, roasted vegetables, or chili. Raw fish wrapped in seaweed and sushi rice is something that is more common in Planeptune's capital district. At least, before Neptune decided that she should eat pudding every breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And in the witching hours.

It was either futomaki or tempura, and in Hakozaki's opinion she would much rather have steak or a taco over a bowl of deep-fried whatever, even if it was pickles. After all, she has to watch her figure.

Munching on the futomaki, she pores over the sheer amount of data that's inside the Ministry of Environment. Uranium deposits, cartographic maps of other nations… ah! Console Patron Units.

If anything could keep Vert alive, it would be this. Athena and Ryghts both are immortal beings despite having no shares to speak of, so even without shares, Vert would live if given their powers.

Interestingly enough, there's another prerequisite to be a CPU. They would need an oracle. The oracle, externally, is responsible for the guidance and protection of that CPU. Internally, however…

There's almost no data on that subject. There are _observations_, but no _experiments_. Oracles are apparently able to communicate across digital streams, even have vulnerabilities and overrides, but there's nothing that informs Chika about how they work internally, at least as detailed in here.

There's nothing that tells her about any new advanced cures in the making that would be relevant to Vert either, at least when she entered the Ministry of Healthcare.

Disappointed, she makes an account with administrative privileges for when she wants to return and shuts down the server. Her next target – the surveillance room.

* * *

Lastation's scouts were permeating the island, waiting for the orders of their CPU.

Planeptune's forces have routed from the island once the bomb went off. Now, only a few battleships are circling the island, waiting for their next orders.

The indigo and cyan banners flap mercilessly in the wind. They cannot evacuate the island like Planeptune's armed forces did, not if they want to retain the element of secrecy the mission requires.

Dressed in dark mineral camouflage, the squad's commanding officer received a message from Psyche.

"Abort the mission. Do not stop them from reversing the damage done to the target. Lowee has a new CPU; we cannot predict her behavior. Wait until nightfall to prepare for extraction; stay out of sight."

**PSHHHAAAH**

**THUNK**

**THUNK THUNK**

**PSHH**

**THUNK**

"Shit… Seems like we pissed off a hive's nest here."

Infrared sights. Thick plate armor. Missile launchers. Machine guns. Greyish-green camouflage.

**PSHH WUPWUPWUPWUP**

Flying overhead are robotic helicopters and Bits, scanning the ground for intruders.

* * *

"Rei Ryghts… what is she doing here?! **Histoire!**"

Nado was watching some footage from one of Planeptune's drones. It was circling Crimson Peak, the tallest point of the island. On it stood a woman, in a crimson suit and with white hair. Few people knew of her true appearance, but there are more than enough references that he knows what to look for.

"Histoire! Rei Ryghts is at Crimson Peak!"

A slamming noise could be heard on the other end of the radio.

"Histoire, respond!"

"Nado, we have no choice. We need her distracted, and you are the only ones capable of the job. I'll get Uzume to stabilize the island. Give me three hours."

"We have ten minutes. That's how long I can keep someone like her down."

"Thirty."

Hanging up, Nado rushes to grab his beam saber.

"You two! Man the control panel, give me some backup!"

Rushing out to one of the ride armors, Nado climbed inside, ready to launch at the mountainside.

"Talk about cheap flights…"

**PSHH**

* * *

Chika Hakozaki is approaching the surveillance room.

Locked.

She needs to get through that door.

She can't lockpick the obstruction without attracting attention. It's a high traffic area and seeing a robot fornicating with a doorknob would quite literally raise alarm bells.

Logging back into the Basilicom's database, she finds the floor plans for that story. The surveillance room is connected via a set of ventilation pipes, too small for humans but more than enough for a machine as small as hers to move through.

Seeing the opportunity, she heads towards the maintenance room.

Unlocked.

She closes the door, and heads to the vents inside.

Loosening the screws in the shaft, she worms her drone through the metal tubes, taking care to deactivate any fans between her and her objective.

Finally reaching her target, she dismantles the vent cover and carefully slides down to the desk.

Inside, there's a female, looking barely of the age of 30, deep in prayer for some reason.

Either way, it's fortunate that Chika was able to get this far. Inserting her worm into the desktop computer, she will wipe the day's records clean.

Now there are new objectives for her.

Reseal the way she came. (Finished.)

Find a way to smuggle the drone out of the Basilicom. (Not so finished.)

After that, she's home free.

"HURK…"

Shit.

"No… Vert hang in there please!"

Vert's body is failing her again.

It's no use, she has to go to the hospital.

Hiding the RC drone in a corner, she calls for a paramedic.

* * *

**THUNK**

Incredible forces, several times that of gravity, push through Nado's body. The landing was perfect, and his cockpit softened the impact as it was designed to do. Beside him are two heavily armed androids, each carrying an anticrystal. Approaching the fugitive CPU, Nado readies himself for violence.

"You are in a restricted area. State your business here."

Startled, Rei backs away from the three machines in front of her, falling flat on her rear.

"Get up. We are not interested in your body. What's your game plan?"

Nado's missile launcher pointed at her, Rei stands upright again. The two drones encircle her.

"Again, non-Planeptune CPUs are **not welcome** here. Answer my question or **leave**."

"I-I'm here be-because I…"

Approaching a share crystal, Rei tries getting out of the robot's perimeter.

"Because you _what?_"

"I-Is Histoire listening?"

His lips turned downwards. If this would be important to Histoire…

"Do you want her to listen?"

"N-no."

Removing the batteries from his radio and sending the robots into an autonomous mode, Nado shows the batteries of his visual radio to the CPU.

"No sudden movements – they are programmed to respond violently to escape attempts."

"Hehe… hahaha…"

"If you are planning on doing something stupid, I can just kill you. Two birds with one stone."

"You are so close… But you need to be even closer. That's why I'm here…"

"What do you **want**, Ryghts?!"

"Planeptune needs to remain standing, Nado."

"You are **not** to order me around. You want to talk about survival, you talk about it humbly."

"Hehehaha…"

"Or would you rather be pushed down, suppressed by an anticrystal while a 200-pound male gets a nice feel of your curves, unzipping his pants while-"

"YEEP! Okay, okay, I'm sorry!"

Nado feels like a complete _asshole_ right now for what he just did. He's definitely going to have to talk about the context of that with a psychologist, because turning Rei on is the last thing he wants.

"I-I'm trying to help you stop Lastation from bombing this place."

"Lastation. I'll ask for proof later, but what exactly are you here for _now_?"

"Well, if your CPU can't absorb the share energy here, then either I have to, or the island would have to be submerged. I-I don't want to do either of those…"

"Okay then. It wouldn't be ideal for us to sink the island, but I read what mental gymnastics you are capable of and don't want you to absorb the share energy. Do you still need to be here?"

"I-I know h-how to do it b-but I d-don't think you-"

"So, you want to _teach_ us, only because you want us to _continue_ an already existing program?"

"Y-Yes. The environment ministry's doing something important. I don't want it sabotaged…"

"That's surprising, considering that it gave me the power to _kill_ you. Can I call Histoire?"

"I-I don't mind anymore…"

Looking cautiously at Rei, Nado re-engaged remote control of his bodyguards and restarted his visual radio. He re-enters his call with Histoire.

"Nado! What are you doing over there?! I thought you were dead!"

"Good news, Histoire! Rei's peaceful, and our CPU has a new way to save the island!"

* * *

Addendum

* * *

Ho boy. Three chapters in three days. I have to admit – it feels like a rush of ideas are coming out of my brain and I just want to jot them down. Needless to say I am feeling a bit out of it right now.

Some people have made a complaint on reddit about "(fanfics that do) flip-flopping to the point of nausea" and unfortunately that's a part of my writing style. When someone gets on a bus I don't like writing out what they were doing on that bus trip between departure and arrival.

I have been mostly focusing on the antagonists' moves right now (Chika, the ancient CPUs, Blanc and Noire's predecessors, and someone from Planeptune) to build up to the finale of the first arc. Athena, if it's not clear already, is Arfoire's complete form. I decided on the name as a symbolic gesture to the Odyssey myth, which centered around Poseidon (known in Rome as _Neptune_) and his enemy Odysseus, whose protectress was _Athena_.

And the names of Navox and Romium are not by accident. The Mag_navox_ Odyssey was one of, if not _the_, first home gaming systems in human history. Also, it's only for the matter of convenience that Planeptune would name the district after the old nation.


	4. Poisoned Well

Drinking some coffee, Blanc and Rom were sitting in the Basilicom, watching the news. Apparently, there's a whole commotion going on in Planeptune that involved the nation's CPU and the military.

"Blanc, Planeptune looks scary."

Footage was cut off by a Planeptune PSA telling civilians within a 40 kilometer radius of Crimson Island to evacuate to a series of cities approaching the Lowee border.

"I thought Navox had divine protection. Why are they evacuating?"

Sitting upright, Blanc read over the warning again.

"Crimson Island, huh? Rei Ryghts and Athena fought on that island millenia ago. What the **fuck** did Planeptune find over there? It can't _just_ be a nuke."

Mina Nishizawa rushed into their room.

"Lady Blanc! It's horrible! Rei Ryghts was found in Crimson Island!"

**PFFT**

"What are you fucking looking at me for! Isn't that Cube's job now?"

"Wait, I thought we-"

"You need to stay as the oracle if we want to do the succession ritual! Tell Cube what's happening!"

Sprinting out of the room, Mina left behind the two CPUs.

"Rom, do you think we have to pay Planeptune a visit?"

Standing up, Rom starts heading out of the door. Blanc gets ready to follow but sees black coffee all over the furniture in front of her. That's going to stain. With a sigh, she heads out after her sister.

* * *

"Firstly, what should Uzume be trying to do?"

"She should t-try to g-get all the share energy from the island."

Resisting the urge to facepalm, Nado pressures more information from Rei Ryghts.

"That's like telling someone to breathe deeply after losing their temper."

"I was about to say something like that…"

"**Uzume.** Does the analogy work, or should Rei elaborate?"

"Uzume is confused. What?"

"Taking in share energy is like breathing. There's a lot of leftover share energy in this island, thanks to me and Athena fighting over being the true goddess before…"

"Rei. The analogy makes sense. However, something like "breathing" in your sense might be harder to understand for someone as inexperienced as our CPU."

"Oh-okay. Uh, imagine f-filling yourself w-with a large void inside of you."

"Like this? Uzume doesn't feel anything."

"You need to think of what you want in there; that desire must be something that exists in this world. In this case, the opposite of what made this share energy in the first place."

"Cool. Uzume, wish for happiness."

"What?"

"Blind guess."

"No, I understand, but why did that work so quickly?"

"Shot in the dark. It seems to be a feat that follows the vanilla laws of CPUs. You can only wish for things that other people are wishing for."

"Uzume doesn't understand."

"Just keep doing whatever you're doing. I'm going to talk to Rei."

Removing the batteries from his visual radio, Nado turned to Rei Ryghts.

"You had this kind of power for how long?"

The Tari CPU shrugged.

"And why did you eventually lose your powers?"

"Just like you said. I can only wish for things that others want. If people want sadness or suffering on other people, I can draw energy in that manner. But by the time we were done, the only thing both of us wanted was the other one gone. Contact with the other became explosive, creating massive amounts of consumed share energy and half as much in its negative."

"So, you poisoned yourself with that kind of power."

"Any share energy usage while using that technique does that to you."

"What if you wanted its negative? If you want to lose your powers?"

"A very viable anti-CPU resource, at the cost of halving my share energy recovery."

"So, against someone like me, awful."

"Y-yes."

"So how did you two reverse the poisoning?"

"Either by releasing it… Which t-trapped me for a whole week i-in m-my basilicom. Or, by burning it, either through exercise o-or b-by consuming share energy…"

"Thanks, making a note of that. You're much more cooperative than most of our reports."

"I regret my actions…"

"Do you? I heard that you were an absolute tyrant in the past."

"Yes…"

"Well, you _should_ regret your actions. What you and Athena did was messed up."

"I-I'm sorry…"

"Seriously, you need a shrink. This much power, skill, and instability will make one person hazardous."

Returning the batteries to his visual radio, he receives a message from Uzume.

"Uzume finished! What should I do now?"

"You could try making share crystals!"

Looking at Rei, Nado raised an eyebrow.

"What? You guys don't know how to do that?"

"I don't think _anyone_ does but you. And maybe Athena. But mostly you."

"I could show you if you want."

"Are you trying to **poison** Uzume?"

All the color disappeared from Rei's skin.

"Forget it, I just want to go home. If you need help, here's my public line. I'll be looking for you later."

* * *

"I am Uzume Tennouboshi, and all of you will bow before me!"

* * *

Waking up from his dream, Nado was touching his face. Why was he dreaming of being a CPU? Why were Noire and Blanc there? Who was that fourth woman? And why was Uzume there, dressed in black and crushing their bodies with her mind? He was in a cold sweat. The phone beside him is ringing.

"Yellowp, Nado Bell speaking, whatcha want?"

"H-hey…"

"Ryghts, is it? You know, just because a CPU can forgo sleep mode more often doesn't mean that humans appreciate it if you wake them up. Oh, speaking of which – if you need a psychologist, I'll give Rose a call in the morning. Unless it's an emergency…"

"S-sorry! I lose track of time so often-"

"No internal clock huh. Just don't call me before 6 AM, ok?"

Hanging up, Nado heads downstairs to get some drink. Yesterday was a job well done and he might as well grant himself a reward. But why did he pick Rose? She asks him out on dates all the time, but he just doesn't feel ready for any of that kind of responsibility. He sits down for a minute in the darkness.

Cracking open a bottle of strong-smelling fizz, he blacks out on the kitchen floor.

* * *

Ivo Towers is investigating a breaking and entering.

Mission Street experienced a power outage which cut off all surveillance footage during the time of the attack. Nado himself was lying on the ground with a smashed bottle in his left hand. A boot print was clearly planted in the back of his head. Paramedics were able to discern that the victim experienced no life-threatening injuries and would be fine after some rest.

The boot itself seemed to be suited for outdoor activities. Because of this, the suspect list includes both male and female candidates. Chika Hakozaki was all the way in Leanbox, which rules her out.

It seems to Ivo that he's dealing with another cold case. Without sufficient evidence, there's nothing that could prove anyone beyond reasonable doubt as responsible for this attack.

The only person that could put a face to the criminal is lying in front of him.

* * *

Nado sees three faces. All of them male.

"Look, he's waking up!"

"It took him long enough…"

Sitting upright, he feels a sharp pain in the back of his head.

"No, no, no. Lie back down again. These people are here to ask you a few questions."

"Umio… Ivo… How's it hanging?"

"You've been here for a week."

"Woah! A _week?!_"

"Jostling you. Two days."

Holding his head in his hands, Nado sat upright again. The doctor facepalmed at him but knew that he can't really do anything about it. Nado's the type of person that does what he wants as long as it doesn't hurt anybody, and he certainly won't be ordered around for his own health.

"Two days of missed paperwork. I hate paperwork so much…"

"Chika was supposed to be only taking a day off, but she was at a hospital in Leanbox District. She's been there for at least three days."

"Yeesh. So, what are you two sticking around here for anyways?"

Towers stands up, motioning to Umio and the doctor to leave the room. After they're gone, he sits back down with a notepad in his hands.

"I've been investigating a break-and-enter. There's almost nothing that provides evidence that would lead to the burglar. No fingerprints, using a very popular boot pattern, and a power outage that killed surveillance around the block. I'm wondering if you saw anything before you went unconscious."

"All I remember was getting off the phone with someone and heading downstairs to get a drink. Once I got what I was looking for from the fridge, nothing. Just black."

Standing up, the cop walked to the door to get the other two back inside.

"What was stolen?"

"Booze, trophies, and some jewelry. I'm sorry."

Towers walking out, the other two walked into the room that houses Nado. Umio, with his height barely reaching the doctor's shoulders, tilts his head to meet Nado's gaze.

"Umio, what are you doing here for?"

"I'm confused and wanted to see you. Father said that you faced off a dangerous, bloodthirsty CPU and lived, and Uzume got sick. What happened over there?"

Looking at the little kid, Nado has to make a decision. Either he tells the kid of Rei Ryghts, and risk her getting share energy by accident, or keep him in the dark.

"Uzume's sick, huh. Can you call Histoire?"

Taking out his visual radio, Umio brought the oracle on screen.

"Histoire. Uzume's still sick?"

"Nado? You haven't responded t-"

"Hospitalized."

"Uh, yes. Uzume's been stuck in a coma for an hour already."

"An _hour_. What made you assume that – did she just pass out in the middle of the hall?"

"Uh…"

Standing upright with a speed that startled the nurse even more, Nado started to march out of the door, wearing nothing but a hospital gown. His well-toned, muscular asscrack got him more than a few glances as he passes several patients. Umio was sprinting after him with a suitcase of something.

"Nado! Ivo told me to get a spare set of clothes for you!"

Turning around, Nado grabbed the suitcase out of Umio's hands and took a look inside. All that was inside was a pair of swimtrunks, sandals, a belt, and a beam saber. Slipping them on, he discards the hospital gown in the laundry.

"How many times did she do that?"

"Three times."

"Get her legs moving. Make her exercise. Don't let her use share energy."

"What exactly do you mean by that?"

"Just do it! I'll be there soon!"

Moving in a sprint, Nado and Umio eventually board Ivo's car, and drove off.

* * *

Uzume was taking a stroll in Romium District. Filled with many different kinds of food, she was looking forward to talking with some of her citizens instead of being involved in office politics or (the rather frequent) (un)natural disasters of her nation. Being able to sit back and enjoy some junk food…

"Lady Uzume! What happened on Crimson Island?"

Looking back from her meal, she sees two figures. One with silver hair, dressed in a black fur coat covering a rather light dress, adorned with blue trim. Another, smaller person was dressed in a black, poofy dress and wearing a pair of boots. She had blue hair.

"Uzume… don't know that much herself. She's been told that someone bombed a mine there and her powers are needed to check it out. Wasn't as big of a deal as we thought."

The silver haired girl's face twitched at that… _liberal_ use of grammar. Is this the same CPU that was rumored to chant demonic invocations to missile tests?

"I heard that there was an enemy CPU there. Did you fight?"

Tilting her head, Uzume puts herself in deep thought. The blue haired girl asked another question.

"I mean, Planeptune's still standing, so I guess it turned out alright, didn't it?"

"Yes… Uzume didn't fight though. Also, Nado has worked very hard to help Uzume get the job done. It was her first time taking in something so big, so having help was nice…"

The silver haired girl's expression changed dramatically, displaying shocked surprise in broad moonlight. Noticing her friend's pale expression, the blue haired girl doesn't know what to say.

"Um… do you want to elaborate on that?"

"Oh, Uzume just didn't do anything with the same urgency and scale before."

Walking outside, the silver haired girl whipped out a small book. The pages flipping by themselves, she focuses her mind on one person – Nado.

Their mark lives nearby. The blue haired girl points towards a dark alleyway. Silver hair turned in incredulity, she follows the young child through to the secluded space.

"Can't believe these disguises worked. Alright, sis. Whenever you're ready."

Nodding, the blue haired girl rips out a drainage pipe. Using it to channel energy, she readies a spell.

"Thunder Rush!"

A power surge, flowing through Mission Street's grid, sent the metropolis in darkness.

* * *

_WHUMP_

Nado falls unconscious to the ground. Standing behind him were two girls, one with blue hair, the other silver, and complemented with black.

"Rom, that plan you have is working out pretty well so far. Seems like we didn't grind your intelligence stats for nothing after all. Keep this up and you'll be as reliable as Mina."

"Praise? Yay! Thanks, big sis!"

"Okay, so we need to make this _look_ like a regular robbery. Cast some magic around our fingertips so they are completely smooth. Seems like he has a lot of trophies and jewelry. Corrupt bastard."

Looking at the trophies in Nado's collection, Blanc notices the dates are _extremely_ old.

"What? This was from a century ago! It must be a relative's or something."

Pocketing the stuff, the CPU moves towards her real objective. Using her tome she casts a spell, copying book after book, page after page, and confining it back into hammerspace. What she can do alone, however, is limited. Beckoning Rom to join her, she gets the CPU candidate to send a current to specific machines so they can boot up. His phone. His desktop. Even his video game console and TV.

Poring over this much data is nothing for CPUs like Blanc and Rom. They take a good look at the goods before getting ready to send themselves off.

"Can we take the funny smelling stuff?"

"**WHAT.** Why?"

"To deflect blame. We look like kids, and there's a warning saying that only adults can drink it."

Blanc turned on HDD, illuminating the ground.

"I'll get it then. I'm not sure if you are mentally ready to drink this stuff."

Hovering over to the fridge, she empties it of several twelve-packs and returns to the mudroom. Deactivating HDD, she and Rom head back home the way they came.

In front of them, they see a door, creaking against the wind. Its locks and knobs remained in excellent-looking condition, even though internally they are destroyed. The hinges were also flaking apart.

"Also, great idea using that Extension spell as a lockpicking tool."

Passing through the main entrance, they walk back through the night, preparing for their next move. Planeptune's law enforcement would remain none the wiser.


	5. Aftershock Four

Rei Ryghts was travelling through the SC line, headed towards Planeptune. She taken transit after changing her clothes from what people knew her to wear to something a lot less conspicuous.

Black and white, complemented with highlights of cyan blue.

It took her three hours to figure out that she needed to ask Nado about something important.

Departing from the station, she heads to a pay phone to call the governor.

"H-hey… Sorry! I lose track of time so often…"

He hangs up. It's too late in the evening to bother him.

Either way, she's close enough to reach her destination through alternative means. Setting up her jetpack, she departs for the Lastation border.

"I just wanted to ask him about his progress on the modified CPU…"

Regardless of which, discussing information as important as that isn't her call to make.

"I guess I should just head home."

* * *

Arfoire was moving through Navox District.

A lot of things changed over the course of several millennia. Structures of marble and brick replaced with metallic skyscrapers. Rapid transit that makes it look like people are flying through the skies.

It's all… so… _ugly_. To her, at least.

The only things that remained of Navox rule are the existence of the CPUs and Celestia. Celestia wasn't discovered by any of the ruling goddesses yet. Athena created the place, and only Rei Ryghts was able to get there so far. But now, Navox is nothing more than a _district_, subservient to Planeptune.

Worse still, Planeptune has _two_ of the Quartet's four legendary weapons in its possession. Arfoire knew that both of them are placed in Planeptune's territory because the nation was so vast. And, the governing body that manages the nation has been taking painstaking steps to conceal them. The location of those weapons isn't even stored electronically. Arfoire knew that those weapons would pose a threat to her plans for world domination, so knowing that these people _knew_ about the existence of them, even if kept under wraps so that Lowee and Lastation won't use them, makes it hard for her to concentrate sometimes. They could make _humans_ defeat Rei Ryghts. Imagine that power in a _goddess._

Speaking of goddesses, she sees Uzume Tennouboshi, fast asleep in a fast food joint.

Now's her chance. Rushing towards Uzume, she placed her palm on the back of the target's neck, eager to absorb the CPU's powers.

**FZZTPSSSHHHH**

"What the hell?!"

Arfoire looked down at her hand. Reddened as if her hand was placed on a burning hot stove, she had little choice but to cast a water spell over herself to relieve the pain.

"HRG! WHY?! Why can't I absorb this CPU's powers?! Am I doing it wrong?"

Umio was sitting, slumped, at a table nearby, with some half-eaten calamari. The cashier, meanwhile, heard the commotion and activated a silent alarm.

"No matter… I'll have to find another way to get rid of this blasted pest…"

**BRRAAAP**

Stumbling over to Arfoire, Umio waltzed over, with a bottle in his hand.

"Hmm… I like your body. Those hips, those eyes… I just want you all to myself, what do you say?"

His breath smelled of vinegar, onions, and soda. The bottle also imparted a smell to his body. How the hell someone like him could keep his figure is beyond Arfoire's guess, but the young man was annoying her. He doesn't even look old enough to drink. And yet he's making advances on her, grabbing her…

No.

Delivering a solid kick to his groin and throwing him across the room like a dodgeball, Arfoire adjusted her hat and stormed out of the restaurant, stepping in a puddle of Umio's puke.

"Woah! Are you okay, sir?!"

Using the potion in his hands, Umio stands upright.

"Yeah. Got a tracker on that woman. Seems like she had hostile intent for our CPU, and I was supposed to guard her. Serves me right for nodding off on the job, but I'm glad that it's over and done with."

"That can't be the _only_ reason, can it?"

"Working in Romium while being all the way from the west end of Capital District isn't the most ideal situation for me. You know how the clocks are different there and the sun rises at a different time."

"You want some coffee?"

"I made a mess. If Uzume wakes up and sees me like this, I could be out of a job."

"Would you like to help clean this mess then?"

"It would be a pleasure. Well, compared to getting fired."

Grabbing a cleaning trolley, the cashier gets Umio a mop.

"Casting a spell would be more convenient, but this is cleaner. And smells better."

In five minutes, the floor is spotless once again.

_FZZT_

The whole building went dark. In fact, the whole _street_ lost power.

"Woah."

"Do you have a spare set of clothes by the way? Mine's covered in puke and I really want this job."

_sniff sniff_

"I don't think you smell that bad, Umio."

"L-Lady Uzume?!"

"Like a fresh shampoo. Though, with extra…"

Taking a deep breath, Umio returned the mop to the cashier.

"It seems that my worries are misplaced…"

"Or you overflowed the gross meter and went positive."

_sniff sniff_

"Actually, Umio, you smell like bleach."

"I guess I should be grateful for having a CPU that's this close to me…"

* * *

Arfoire stormed out of the restaurant. Being manhandled by a drunk after getting her hand burned when trying to absorb a CPU's power was not her idea of a night out.

She's tempted to destroy the restaurant in retribution, but she doesn't have the energy to do so.

_FZZT_

Weird… the city blacked out. It doesn't matter to Arfoire, who can see infrared. But still…

**WOOOPWEOOWEOOWEOO**

A police car raced past her, headed to where the restaurant was located.

She needs to hightail it before she gets caught in the middle of a fight. It doesn't matter if she does, the outcome would be the same, but she wants some space to continue plotting.

Taking to the skies, she heads towards Leanbox District. She burned too much energy this week.

"That's right… feed me your fear…"

Salivating, the torn goddess races towards the ravaged seaside.

* * *

Power was restored to Mission Street. Many residences had alarms blaring off but were fixed within a few minutes. One place, however, kept blaring off its alarms, annoying the neighbors. Police were called over to investigate the scene and neutralize the disturbance.

What they came across was an unconscious man, a broken door, and a complete mess of a house.

* * *

It's already midnight, and Lastation's scouts didn't receive any orders from Psyche.

That's because the grey-haired CPU was plotting her next move. She needs to get them out of Crimson Island, but there's a mass of ships and helicopters stationed around the place. She needs something, anything, that could distract them long enough that at least half of the navy would be removed. But what? What would be her saving grace?

"Psyche! We have detected another strong CPU presence in Romium District!"

"It can't be the CPU candidate, can it?"

"It matches Athena more than any past Planeptune CPU!"

Standing upright, Lastation's CPU came up with a dangerous plan.

"Kei! What do you say, should we piss off an ancient CPU?"

Marching over to Psyche, the oracle stands straight up with a salute.

"We are already in a situation with extreme risk. If our deadlines fall back any further, we would be the losers of this console war. I'll get scouts in Leanbox to commence the operation."

"You heard her! Get going!"

Charging out of the front door, Lastation's generals (and Kei) moved to send their orders down the chain of command. The CPU candidate, Noire, walked inside. She was wearing an idol costume.

"Noire. What did I say about coming in unannounced? Also, what the hell are you wearing?"

"You like it? I made it myself!"

Putting a gloved hand to her face, Psyche's face furrowed in irritation.

"Noire. What did I say before?! You are to dress presentably and professionally! Change your clothes!"

The CPU candidate's face revealed a shocked and saddened expression.

"And if I hear about you crying today, I'll give you something to cry about!"

Psyche made good on these threats before. Noire's face turned completely pale, and she rushed to her room. After a few minutes she came back out wearing a formal dress, looking almost like a maid.

"That's better. Now scram."

Psyche watches as the CPU candidate walks out of the room, closing the door gently.

"Finally. Now I can finally get back to work."

Opening up a hidden compartment in her desk, the head office became a simulation room, fitted with assault rifles, grenades, and machine guns. Taking a magnum out of her pockets, she takes aim.

* * *

Walking turned into jogging. Then, jogging turned into sprinting. Then, flying.

Noire wanted compassion from her sister. At least some level of affirmation that she was worth something. But no emotions resonate from her but contempt. Anger. Noire isn't good enough. She'll never be good enough. Never able to do the hard work, never able to be the professional that her older sister wants her to be. Just some lazy, loafing princess that does nothing but try on frilly dresses all day.

She already tried to find a way out of it all. She learned numerous knots, but all of them fail.

All of them failed to end her story. No drug, needle, or rope would save her from the abyss.

Just working, day and night, over and over again so that Psyche doesn't vent her rage at the junior.

**PSHHH**

Looking behind, Noire notices a woman using a jetpack. White hair. Black dress.

A Lastation citizen using a jetpack? She's probably really important.

Reducing in speed, Noire waits for the suspect to almost overtake her. Noire takes initiative.

"Hello there."

Rei, startled out of her sleep, looks to her side seeing Noire, in full HDD.

"Yikes! W-What are you doing here?!"

"Tch! I don't know what you mean about that, I'm the CPU candidate of Lastation! What about you?"

"I-I'm sorry, I was just on a business trip and needed to head home!"

Looking at the CPU, she notices streaks symptomatic of dried tears.

"Were you crying?"

Noire's face turning red, those streaks disappeared from her face.

"W-Who's crying?! What made you think I was crying?"

"Aipe! Nevermind, nevermind, I'm sorry!"

"Sheesh. You really don't like people asking you questions. How about you cool your jets?"

"Y-you want me to land?"

"Not literally, you dolt! For crying out loud, it's like getting oranges through a sieve!"

_**BRAACK CAW CAW FWUP FWUP FWUP**_

A murder of crows bolted out of the orchard below. Some of them are leaving "presents" behind, depositing white slime all over the CPU, provoking her to stall midair.

"Ew, ew, ew! Hey! You think of landing soon?!"

The older woman said nothing. There was even bird poop on her face!

Though, it seemed to be burning off…

Wait.

What? Noire could have sworn she seen scat on that girl's face somewhere, but it's gone. Was it an illusion? A trick of the light that made her hair look like that? Shaking out of her dumbfounded expression, she noticed that the lady was struggling to maintain balance in the air, floundering at what seems to be the jetpack's controls. Eventually, however, she crashed into a tree.

_**FWUP FWUP CAW CAW**_

More crows bolted out of the forest below. Besides the fact that she's talking to her, Noire knows it's ethically wrong if she abandoned a woman that could have been unconscious, so she follows the exhaust trail. Coming up to her, she was fortunate enough to be near a stream.

Washing the shit out of her face, wings, and hair, Noire turned to the mysterious, shy lady. She's pouring potions on herself while her jetpack laid beside her, disassembled into a series of parts.

Approaching her, Noire asked a serious question.

"Why didn't you land when I asked you to?"

The lady jumped away from the CPU candidate.

"I-I'm sorry! The jetpack i-is automated s-so I can't just land immediately…"

"Whatever that jetpack is, it's dangerous. Do you have a license for that?"

"Y-yes. Ever since I was a Lastation citizen."

"Ever since…"

Noire's face furrowed in confusion. At least the license had not expired. It's addressed to a Rachel K.

"How long were you a citizen of Lastation? Are you a foreigner?"

"Since circumstances required me to be a citizen of the nation."

"What's your last name?"

"Kiseijou."

Noire uses her powers to read the chip inside the license card. The last name indeed was listed as Kiseijou. Now, she needs Rachel's citizenship card.

"Can you show me some ID?"

Whipping out another card, Rachel hands Noire a perfectly matching ID without discrepancies.

"C-can I please have those back now?"

Handing back the cards, Noire sat down by the river to wash out the bird feces on her body.

* * *

"Cube, I brought you your drinks."

Taking up the alcoholic beverage, the Lowee CPU sorts through the papers in front of her. Magic spells, blimps, and flamethrowers. Fire response equipment. The trial of a medical practitioner abusing his license to sell addictive medications. Invasion plans to recapture the old nation of Tari.

Cube is going to be busy.

"Mina, you said that Rei Ryghts was found in Navox?"

The oracle nodded, with a flustered expression on her face.

"Good. We can proceed with our invasion immediately. Mobilize our forces. We attack at midnight."

"Wait, Cube! Isn't this a rash decision?! What if Rei catches on about this?"

The oracle was sweating buckets. On one hand, she doesn't want to be kicked out by Cube. On the other, Rei Ryghts is powerful, and while they have one of the Quartet's legendary weapons, Rei could quite easily kill off one of the CPUs if she tried.

"When we capture her capital, what is she going to do about it? We'll kill her just like we did with Eden!"

"Are you sure about that?!"

Lowee's generals are looking at each other with concerned faces.

"With all due respect, my lady, if Rei decided to attack us, she could easily destroy our capital!"

"And whose fault is it that the capital isn't protected against that rogue CPU?!"

The whole table went silent.

"You. That's your job now. The rest of you, assemble the assault team."

* * *

Chika Hakozaki is in the hospital, waiting for Vert to come out.

It was already six hours since she checked in to Gheytz Memorial Hospital. Her sister is being transferred out of the emergency room and into another wing. The doctors were rushing her past Chika.

Out of the corner of her eye, she sees a young-looking character, barely of the age of 12, running across the hall. Short purple hair, purple eyes, and wearing a white hoodie over herself.

And she's headed straight into the path of the stretcher.

Standing upright, Chika grabs the kid's hoodie before she runs over her sister.

"What do you think you're doing?! You could have hurt my older sister!"

Noticing the doctors rushing the patient past the two, the stranger makes a remark.

"Aw, you think little old me would knock over a stretcher like that? Also, they could pick her back up."

"You sassy little _twerp!_"

"Excuse me? I'm twenty-seven years old!"

"Three questions. One – where's the _proof_ that you are twenty years old?!"

"Right here!" Handing medical records, it details that this person, named Neputunu Tennouboshi, is indeed twenty-seven years old. Wait, Tennouboshi? Isn't that the same name as Uzume? Flipping through the pages, Chika notices that they are all… blank.

"I'm going to need those back now…"

"These are all blank. Is this fraud or steganography?!"

"Sega-what-now?!"

"Hidden messages, idiot."

"You need a key to see them. Oh, by the way, that's question two."

"Three, _how_ are you twenty-seven years old?"

"Simple! I was born twenty-seven years ago!"

"And yet you look like _this_?"

"You said three questions!"

**BOOMSHHHT**

The ceiling was hammered by what sounds like an explosion in one of the upper floors. The power went out, the windows are broken, dust flew down from above, and people were screaming.

There was also a voice.

"How dare you scratch the face of Arfoire, the one true goddess of-"

"RRAAAAUUUGH! YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!"

**KRACKOOM**

The reception desk was buzzing with activity. Members inside are trying to get a hold of the police. The military. Just anybody that could put a stop to the madness happening outside.

Chika overhears one of the doctors on an emergency phone.

"Histoire! Someone trying to claim themselves as the 'one true goddess' is pissed off and blew a hole in our hospital! Arfoire! I know, I never heard of that name before!"

Suddenly, two armed figures burst out from the stairs. Both are dressed in navy blue and carried submachine guns. One had a sniper rifle.

"Oh, thank goddess, rescuers!"

"Those aren't Planeptune forces!" the purple-haired kid yelled, unsheathing a sword.

"Oh, goddess, why?!" The assailants raised their weapons and opened fire.


	6. Leanbox Definition

Blanc and Peashy were engaged in a long, drawn-out battle in the skies.

"I will not have you take what is rightfully mine, uber-tits!"

Ascending at a rapid pace, the two went past the clouds, into the dark night sky.

"Freeze, bitch! Getter Ravine!"

Encasing Yellow Heart in ice, White Heart moved to dodge a volley of red particles, which lodged themselves into Peashy's cage. Striking her axe overhead, the trapped CPU accelerated towards the ground. Her wings were made useless, and she struggles to use her powers.

She descended rapidly into the clouds, where she saw the outline of an airship.

On it, stood a woman with grey hair, tanned skin, and a revolver. Blinded by a flash of light, Yellow Heart then saw the ground coming at her at an alarming speed. Red, crystalline crosses glowed brighter and brighter in response to her screaming and futile struggle.

The resulting change in inertia was enough to split her head in half.

Descending to the ground, White Heart cleared away the rebel forces by summoning an intense blizzard. Those unlucky enough to be caught in the winds had ice shards rip them to shreds. Lowee's "liberation" forces moved in to establish control over the region. Blanc checked the body.

Yellow Heart is dead. Eden was no more.

Someone's contract was nearing fulfilment.

But Blanc had other plans. Her hired help, the mercenary, is to be disposed.

And she would do it before Lowee becomes whole again.

Planeptune is far from a threat at this point. She planted agents to leach their resource base and made sure that they had no useable talent to work with. Also, she has full custody over the most powerful artefacts in her nation, and if they take what's hers, they'll find nothing.

All that is left is to dispose of Psyche, and her little bitch sidekicks, Kei and Noire.

Once they are gone, the world will be hers once again, and there will be nothing that could stop her.

Red crystals rained down from the sky, taking White Heart by surprise. More anti-crystals? She didn't order this to happen. The empress concurred that the mercenary betrayed her.

Looking back up to the sky, she sees someone new.

White hair. Grey outfit. A dark brown cloak supplanted by two silver wings, matching her silver pistols.

The figure fires at her. The bullet velocity was fast enough to bruise White Heart's body.

"Flood." White Heart says, with a savage grin on her face. She invoked not a spell, but a command.

A hard force punctured the airship, and the storm cloud started rushing inside, condensing, and releasing its payload within the craft. The weight was enough to create a waterfall through the leak and send the blimp descending towards the south. It distracted the stranger enough for Blanc to escape.

* * *

That was only a couple of years before Rom was born. Planeptune was able to weed out Blanc's agents at an alarmingly fast pace, and they taken a third of Lowee's former territory. The ruins of Tari once belonged to Lowee, and the power inside Navox District was more significant than once imagined.

Cube, the one who sunk that airship, wanted revenge from Lastation, for being made an embarrassment. Her sister maintained civilization for the world, and for what? Just to be tossed away for the likes of Planeptune, which chained their rulers to the ground?

She did not stand for their treachery, but Blanc is soft. Too soft to do what's needed to restore order.

And now that she's in charge, that would all change.

* * *

"It appears that Rei Ryghts and Nado had a long and fruitful relationship with each other. It seems like it was the reason why Planeptune invaded Romium and Leanbox under the guise of a "peacekeeping mission", despite Tari being closer to the capital, Yodachi."

"Blanc, you're rambling again."

"The fuck you say? Rambling?"

"Eep! Blanc, please don't do that! Also, we're not home yet…"

"I cast a silence spell to conceal our conversation. I can talk as much as I want. The fact that Rei got them to ignore Tari as part of a deal to fragment us just pisses me off! We used to rule from pole to pole! Those insects! Pests! Acting all high and mighty too, playing up some referendum on whether their captured territories want to be part of Lowee again once the conflict's over just to piss on us more!"

"Uh, to be fair…"

"I don't give a shit if Nado didn't have evidence on him that said those election results were changed!"

Kicking away a can of soda on the ground, Blanc resumed her stiff, tense march to Leanbox.

"He seems to be agitated by a coworker prying at secrets. Let's make her answer some questions."

* * *

**RATATATATATAT**

Wielding submachine guns, the two rogue snipers emptied their magazines at cowering civilians, one of which was Chika Hakozaki. The other was on the phone with Histoire.

_WHOOPCHK_

**RATATATAT**

Just when they were about to fill her body with lead, Chika was rescued by the young-looking adult she was asking questions to before. The two assailants had their bodies cut in half, horizontally, leaving them convulsing on the ground as their weapons eventually stopped firing.

The lady that was on the phone with Histoire, however, was not as lucky.

The youth breathed heavily. Looking behind her, and towards the desk, she evaluates her results.

"That… wasn't… enough…"

Chika kneeled closer to look at the guns. Sure enough, the design was older than Planeptune's existence, but seemed to be Navox technology. There weren't any serial numbers on them.

* * *

"Uzume, now that you're the CPU, what do you want to do with the city?"

* * *

Umio and Uzume were sitting outside a restaurant, past 3:00 in the morning.

"And we would have tunnels that let people fly on their feet and…"

Uzume's in the middle of an… "epiphany". She did this often, even before she became the nation's CPU, and it often led to changes in the environment. Seeing it in action? This is Umio's first time.

And it won't be his last.

"…there was also this robotics expert that showed me this cool technology that lets you connect to the internet using radio waves and we could…"

She's getting technical, which means she could be running out of steam soon. Or not, who am I to say?

_bzzt bzzt_

"Uzume, you have a call."

"Hello? Histoire?"

"Uzume, it's an emergency! Something is terrorizing a hospital in Leanbox!"

Materializing an extra-large cup of coffee, Umio stood up and drank deeply.

"Well, we can't just sit around here, can we? Can I get a lift?"

Uzume transforms and ascends to the skies with Umio.

* * *

_BOOM_

_BOOM_

Noire heard explosions in the distance. At least now she's cleaned of the bird poop from before.

"Uh… wh-what's that?"

Noire notices that Rei was able to hear it too. Is she going deaf?

"I don't know. I didn't hear of any weapons testing happening in this area."

"Was there a mining accident or something?"

"There shouldn't have been. I think it's more likely that we have an invasion."

"I-invasion!? No, no-no-no-no-no!"

Curling up into a fetal position, Rei was bawling her eyes out.

"Quit losing your head over this! I'll just get you home and see what all of this is about. Come here."

"U-uh, I think you should go alone. I-I'm confident with fixing this jetpack myself."

"You don't look confident in the slightest, but I don't have time. Do whatever you want, I'm going."

Rushing through the skies, Noire heads to the border. The place where Peashy died.

* * *

Leanbox is being torn up by an angered, haughty witch. Where there were once crowds of people there now lies empty streets, abandoned cars, and dreary-looking buildings.

"You insects! You think you can go against your master?! How dare you! I'll make your last moments living hell, and use your bodies to reforge my throne!"

"Well now. Uzume, she has a brash tone, doesn't she? I think you should teach her some manners."

Dropping off Umio, Uzume heads off to face Arfoire.

"Histoire, Uzume's at Leanbox. There seems to be a disturbance in the skies."

"I already have the disturbance accounted for."

**KRACKOOM**

"There seems to be a difference between 'accounted for' and 'under control'."

"Yes. We have to take matters into our own hands. The disturbance seems to be ancient CPU energy, but it seems to have the opposite effect of what divine protection is supposed to act like."

"I'm not that experienced with combat. Is direct action necessary or advisable?"

"I'll get someone to assess the situation, but my experience tells me that fighting whatever is causing this wouldn't be smart, and it wouldn't be easy for us to destroy, not that we should destroy it. To make matters worse, we obviously can't talk to it."

"People seem to be already evacuating."

"Try to keep her to the wilderness."

**BOOM**

As Histoire said that, Uzume slammed Arfoire into the coastline bordering Lowee.

"Oh my, it seems that Uzume had her own ideas. You said that there were people attacking a hospital, right? You didn't say which one it was."

"_There's more of them!"_

Screams can be heard from the distance, originating from the center of the metropolis.

"Seems like it was Gheytz Memorial, right?"

"Yes. On the bright side, I don't hear any other distress calls coming from hospitals in Leanbox. Please, if you have the time to can you investigate? But, do be careful."

With that, Histoire hung up. Materializing a hoverboard that Uranus made to celebrate Umio's recruitment, he headed to the burning skyscraper.

* * *

"You **bitch!** How **dare** you interrupt my moment of glory!"

"**SHATTER!"**

Uzume's megaphone sent shockwaves that split trees apart and cracked the ground underneath her target. She's finding it hard to stay transformed, but even on the ground she's still pretty active.

"Juvenile CPU! I'll show you what happens when you cross me!"

Whipping out her staff, Arfoire cast a debilitating spell on Uzume.

"That's **enough** out of you! You **freak!** I'm going to **erase** you!"

Uzume, seeing Arfoire readying up another spell, decided to do the only thing she can in this situation.

She ran like hell.

"**Come back here!"**

Taking out some Tuffmill, Uzume gulped it down. It tasted like raspberries and chewing gum. Apparently, its official purpose is being a digestible mouthwash, but it's also used as a performance enhancer in CPUs. Uzume could feel her strength returning and pushed harder.

She was tired, beat up, felt like absolute crap, and didn't want another second of whoever this person is.

* * *

Umio climbed up Gheytz Memorial Hospital. Inside he sees three people, dressed in navy-blue garments and wielding submachine guns. Upon seeing Umio, they opened fire.

Umio reacted by engaging an energy shield. Unsheathing his beam saber, he disarms the three.

Almost literally, but they were wearing counter-plasma armor.

"**AH! AH, AH, AH IT BURNS SO MUCH! OH, GODDESS WHY!?"**

Umio removed their inventory devices. He melted them and the actions of their weapons.

Restraining them, he sprinted upstairs, clearing room upon room.

By the time he was on the twentieth floor, he was exhausted. He sees a familiar face.

Chika Hakozaki.

She's with a child that's carrying a sword.

"Your betrayal of Planeptune has not gone unnoticed, Hakozaki! Surrender immediately!"

"Wait, wait! You got it all wrong!" Chika threw her arms in the air regardless.

"Drop your weapon, stranger!"

"You got it all wrong! She saved us from two assholes that started shooting at unarmed people!"

Looking behind them, he sees two bodies, wearing the same navy-blue armor. Well, a pedantrist would say at least four considering that they were severed in half and in a pool of their own blood…

"Oh. I'm sorry, I thought you were with them considering that you had weapons."

Disengaging his beam saber, he picks up one of the submachine guns.

"Histoire. Hostiles were found in GMH. They were using weapons without serial numbers, and I'm not necessarily a cop, but I think that's pretty illegal. I'm sending you pictures of them."

"These designs. They're old, but obviously Navox technology."

Chika was utterly confused by Histoire's comment. "Obviously?!" "Sh!" Umio urges.

"This is strange. They may be Navox nationalists, or aristocrats, or something that has ties with Athena. Or, they could have been related to the museum raid in the district a few years back."

"If I was a gambling man, I'd put money on the second one."

Their conversation was interrupted by a call from Uzume.

"G-guys I need help… Why does she have to hurt Uzume so bad?..."

"Uzume, you heard me when I told Umio that direct combat wasn't wise, didn't you?"

"Yes but…"

"Well, do what you can to keep her distracted."

Umio and Chika looked at each other with confused and pained looks in their faces.

"Well, Umio. It looks like you need to fish out Orange Heart."

Umio's face became blank.

"I don't know how. My hoverboard can't handle steep inclines."

"I have a truck. It's in the parking lot. Nep, you can handle anyone upstairs, right?"

"You two head out for Uzume! I'll put out the fires."

With that, the two headed downstairs to extract Uzume.

* * *

"Seriously? Twenty-seven?!"

"That's what the ID told me."

"You sure that's not faked?"

"No."

"Still, being able to cut two people in half like that… That's your truck?!"

"Yep."

An old, beat-up pickup truck painted in olive drab and with obvious signs of rust greeted the two humans. Inside it was a spear and a BB gun.

"I hope you aren't thinking of using those things to protect yourself."

"Not really. I'm not much of a fighter. Learned to hunt with the spear when I was ten though."

"Okay…"

* * *

"Ugh, Uzume's getting tired…" She tries calling Histoire.

"Uzume, there's backup coming to your location. Just hold out a bit longer."

Histoire is frantically moving ships from Navox to Leanbox through Rhomium. Observers at the Lastation border were in for a spectacular sight. Navox and Lastation don't share any land mass, but it does share landmass with the capital and Lowee. Battleships have to move beside the Lastation border.

"**I found you, insect! Now perish!"**

_THUMP_

Arfoire got hit by Chika's truck. Using her spear, Umio brushed off Arfoire from the bumper.

"We're here. Chamomile Mist."

Chika and Umio were enveloped in a green smoke, then became translucent.

"Giizhik Overflow."

Invoking a spell on her weapon, Chika threw it into the sky, where it flew gently in an arc, but suddenly accelerated straight into Arfoire's arm and lodged itself deep inside.

"Return." Chika says as her weapon teleported back into her hand. "Cedar Reweave."

"You! **Insolent! **_**Bitch!**_ Show yourself!"

Chika's spell coated her spear with a neurotoxic venom. Arfoire's eyes and arms were twitching like crazy, and she's losing her target. It doesn't help her that Chika cast an invisibility spell over herself and strands of wood were slicing against the witch's skin.

**PSSSSHHHAAAAH**

Blinded and losing motor control, Arfoire was casting spells in random directions, hoping that her target is in line of sight. Umio felt for his beam saber but Chika extended an arm out.

"These spells are only temporary. We're getting Uzume back. We're not getting ourselves killed."

"But…"

"I want this bitch dead as anyone, but I'm not a fighter. These spells are supposed to be used against animals, not whatever that mutant is."

**PSSHHAAAAH**

**THUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNK**

**BRRAAAPPPP PSSSHAACKRACKOOM**

Four large robots landed beside Arfoire, and an unmanned helicopter strafed overhead firing a rotary cannon. The witch remained standing, which prompted one of the bipedals to grab her and slam her into the ground, then rotate at 200 rotations per minute, with Arfoire screaming her head off inside.

**RRRRRR"RRAAUUUGH!"RRRRRRR**

**KRACKOOM**

The robots were blasted into the forest, destroying several trees in their path. The machine that was foolhardy enough to grab Arfoire had half its body missing as the explosive force disintegrated its arm.

"Umio, you need to extract Uzume, now!"

That was one of Planeptune's generals.

"I can't find her!"

"Use your beam saber! While you're outside the hostile line of sight, light it up so she can see you! Uzume, that goes for you too! Get over a hill or something!"

_PSSHVRRRR_

Umio and Chika sees a redhead dressed in white running at them.

"Stop the truck, Chika! Uzume, climb in!"

"General, where should we go now?"

"Just head back to the city and go home. I'll relay to the others that you're safe."

**PSSHHAAAAHTHUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNK**

**PSSSHHFZZZZZZT**

"**CURSE YOU! CURSE ALL OF YOU! I WILL HAVE MY VENGEANCE!"**

Red lightning streaked the skies. Glowing red crosses formed, interlocking into a sphere.

"Umio, Uzume, what did you just do? Were those disruption crystals?"

Histoire was fuming over the intercom.

"Histoire, with all due respect, we have more pressing concerns."

"I don't see how the usage of an anti-CPU weapon isn't a pressing concern."

"But the people are safe, aren't they?"

"Safe?! When Yellow Heart was destroyed the resulting fallout caused us to-"

Shutting off the intercom, Umio looked back to see the invisibility spell wear off, and Uzume collapsed in the cargo area. Her breathing was labored, and her skin (especially the face) was rashed. Her radio was still on, and Umio could hear Histoire's pissed-off ranting under the noise of the truck.

"I don't think Uzume's supposed to look like that." Umio noted.

"I don't care. We'll look at it when we get back to the city."

* * *

"There she is, Rom. Parked at the hospital, as expected. Now we need to wait until she's alone."

"Uhm… why don't we just go into her house first?"

"What, we should reuse the same burglary technique? Do you want us to get caught?"

"Uh… no…"

"I think we should try something other than a forced entry this time."

"We aren't good at illusion magic though, Blanc."

"That's why we need to get close to her. Follow my lead."

Waiting outside, the two listened in on their target's conversation.

* * *

"So, if you guys want to borrow my truck, you could use my keys."

"I think we're fine. Besides, a truck wouldn't be nearly fast enough to take Uzume to Yodachi nor the Basilicom in less than 48 hours. We need an airplane."

Reconnecting with Histoire, Umio notices that she's still talking.

"Histoire."

"And with how hard it is to manage this much territory I don't want Uzume to-"

"Histoire! Oh my, where's Uzume's megaphone…"

"be destroyed by those things! Callously treating these disruptor crystals as nothing more-"

Grabbing Uzume's megaphone, Umio reiterated one word…

"**HISTOIRE."**

"Oh goddess, Umio, I can hear the saturation. I think I'm going deaf!" Chika says, covering her ears and falling backwards on her ass.

"Sorry." Looking at the visual radio, he notices Histoire picking herself up off the ground.

"Umio! What is it that you want so bad that you had to disrespect your oracle's hearing?!"

"Uzume's having a fever. Her skin is bright red."

"Oh dear! I'll send an airplane to get her treated immediately."

"And I'm expected to come with. Where are we being picked up?"

"There's a runway two blocks west."

"Turn right here. Stop. Okay, we got her on a stretcher. Up the cargo ramp…"

Seeing Umio and Uzume board the fighter jet, and rocket off to the capital, Chika went back to her truck to return to her older sister. However, she sees two girls, dressed in black clothes, looking back at her.

"Creepy. Pasty-white faces, black, formal clothes, not even a smile. They look like goth chicks but at the same time they don't. Perhaps they're ghosts. Sooner I get back to Vert, the better."

Driving out of the runway, Chika driven along the street only to find those two girls again, the smaller of them jaywalking, the other wielding a hammer.

"Gefahrlichtern!"

Covering Chika's left tires with snowballs, the truck veered hard into her direction. Blanc jumped out of the way, revealing a dark, cramped alleyway behind them. Chika accelerated to a stop only after hitting smack-dab into a dumpster. Her head landed straight into the wheel's airbag, but she's unconscious.

"Rom. Heal her."

"Come on stranger, you're okay. It's only whiplash, I'll heal you. Come back…"

"Fuck it if you don't want to use a spell. We have her keys and address. That should be enough to find out what she's doing. Also, we're going to need to ditch these outfits as soon as possible."

"What, right now?"

"No, but preferably in the woods."

Moving to house Hakozaki (a crummy apartment building in the center of Gheytz City), Blanc and Rom move to find out what kind of secrets the place has hidden from them.

"She tried entering our borders with her family before. I thought her reason for entry was weird, but to think that she's the same one that Nado's so afraid of… Ugh. Planeptune's full of assholes."

"Um… are you sure it's just Planeptune? What about… the meanies in Lastation?"

Looking back at the road behind them, Blanc noticed that traffic is still moving normally, the trains run on time, and the place still has running water. Even then, she sees no cameras that spotted them.

"No, but Planeptune's a hive of criminals and infighting. How it stands like this is beyond me."

* * *

Afterword

Well, this chapter's 25% longer than the others. I think I learned a few more things today.

Firstly, proofread, proofread, proofread! Chika's dialogue ended up being filled with things that are unrealistic to character and context that had to be fixed.

Secondly, I noticed that my stories barely gain any traction among you guys, and I have no idea what's going wrong. If there's anything you'd like me to try out, I'm all ears. Except for OC x character ships. I don't do that kind of shit.

On second thought, why do the OC ships get so many fucking reviews?!


	7. Komidashi Noire

Chika Hakozaki woke up to the deafening sound of helicopter blades and radio chatter.

"Oough. What…"

"So apparently her truck got shot at by snowballs that magically formed her tires into ice cubes? The fuck with this anomalous shit, why are there no cameras round here?!"

"There are a few casters in the vicinity. Those should be added to the list of suspects."

"What about the driver's family? Lowee has a long history of wizard families so what if she-"

"Wait, it looks like the driver's still alive. Hoho! Welcome back to the land of the living! Did you send an appeal to the dark gods of hell to have your soul back?"

Chika's dumbfounded by the callous and quite possibly racist dialogue going on between her rescuers. But she decided to play along, maybe just to spite them.

"Oh no! It was horrible! They did all sorts of unspeakable things to my body in the few seconds I spent in the hot, steamy lair of Satan himself! But then, Uzume, the light of the heavens, came down and told me that I only needed to give her my credit card number, the expiration date, and the CVC at the back…"

Her exaggerated poses and narrative were interrupted by uncontrolled chortling courtesy of the cops.

"Goddess, you're not serious about that, are you?"

"Of course not! Where are we going?"

"Napiad Central Hospital. Some terrorist destroyed Gheytz Memorial, and that's the closest-"

Hearing the pilot's response, Hakozaki shot upright.

"What in **SAM HELL** were you thinking?!"

"-hospital with vacancy."

Chika immediately regretted moving so quickly after awaking from unconsciousness. Putting her hand to her forehead, she realized that she's having an extremely hot fever. Paramedics are trying to coax her into lying back down again. The police officers looked at her with concern.

"What's wrong?"

"I-I… I thought that you abandoned…"

Shaking his head, the cop on the left walked behind Chika with a calm expression.

"Those that were alive are being taken care of in hospitals closer than NCH, don't worry."

The color drained from Chika's face even further.

"Those that were alive?! B-but Vert… my sister…" Chika says, grasping the hospital bed she's lying on. "Do you know if my sister's still alive?"

"Look, I know you are concerned about your sister, but you need to lie down!"

* * *

Lowee's CPU is leading the frontline assault into the ruins of Tari. First stop, Visonar Harbor. A commercial port, host to military secrets buried deep underground from the time that Eden once ruled.

"Hahaha! That's right, maggots! Bow down to your true rulers! Nothing like the weakness of Rei Ryghts and certainly not that traitor mercenary rat, Psyche Jinguchi!"

There was little resistance, which unnerved Cube Nishizawa. Did they loot the place?

"We're done here! Keep the pace going and head to Kassar Ruins!"

* * *

"Kassar?! Seriously, you came from Kassar?!"

After leaving from Grassvale, Noire noticed that Rei was headed in approximately the same direction as Rei and slowed down, again. This unnerved her a lot.

"Y-yes… I mean, it doesn't look like much but there's a few towns around there… or there used to be."

Looking at Rei with a raised eyebrow, Noire listened in on her story. Her lie.

"Gangsters came in and razed my home, just so they could scavenge without witnesses. The things they did with our bodies… Their filthy, gross smell filling me… My parents died to their hands. I was lucky to escape when a power struggle with a rival gave me the window I needed."

Her utterly cliché and exaggerated lie.

"Oh my… I'm so sorry! You can stop now, please!"

And fortunate for Ryghts, it works. Every time. Noire was fighting the urge to hurl and tried thinking of another question. Something that is a lot less dirty.

"Where do you live?"

"Visonar. A port city."

"What business requires you to be outside the country? You passed the border!"

"I-I'm…" A long pause came out of Rei's lips. Noire, getting more suspicious, pressed on.

"What exactly is so confidential that you must withhold information from your CPU candidate?"

"I-I run an engineering firm! Some private company in Planeptune runs a power plant and wanted a service assessment for some upgrades!"

**BOOM**

**BOOM**

Their conversation was interrupted by Cube Nishizawa obliterating the defenses of Kassar.

"It looks like trouble's ahead for you. You should land. Or, turn back. Don't worry about me."

Rei only needed one look at her. Noire taken on a look of acceptance, like she's about to do something that would end her life. "Noire, what are you thinking of doing? Why do you look like that?!"

* * *

It took a few hours for Chika to reach Napiad. It was a cultural hub filled with more than just technological marvels of man. Borderline desert, filled with wide open fields host to everything from bison farms to archaeological dig sites surround a metropolis where two railroads, one old and another new, cross together, symbolizing one period's end as only part of the journey to tomorrow.

It was especially important to the people in Leanbox District. It was what made them unique compared to the likes of Tari and Navox. The memories before CPU rule.

Not their military power, which is what Planeptune officially valued it for.

Archaeology was forbidden before Planeptune "liberated" Leanbox from Eden, as Romium from Lowee. Neither of those countries let anyone know about the place's past. And one of them's dead.

But that's not what we're here about. Airlifted to Napiad Central, Hakozaki's passed out (again), and with little time, the doctors rushed her to the emergency room.

"She lost a lot of blood!"

"What's her blood type?!"

"Type O!"

"Fuck and shit! We're almost out of that stuff!"

"Quit fucking around and give it to me!"

One transfusion pumped into Hakozaki.

"That's the last one! Goddess, if you can hear me…"

"Vert… can't…" "She's waking up! Get her stable!"

* * *

Chika Hakozaki was breathing normally again. Her heart rate is steady, and she's conscious. Upon the advice of her doctors, she rested for a couple of hours before sitting upright again.

The two police officers were waiting outside.

"How're you feeling?" her nurse says.

Wiping sweat off her forehead (is it sweat?) Hakozaki sat upright and looked at the robed man.

"I've been feeling a lot better now. It feels like I've been hit by a truck though."

"The boys in blue wanted to talk to you. They seem rather agitated."

"No use prolonging the inevitable…"

Opening the door, the nurse let in the cops that were talking to her before. Chika's face contorted in disappointment looking at the two. Regardless, one of them took initiative.

"What happened before you crashed?"

* * *

"This time would be the last. I could finally… leave this prison."

Rei was shocked and surprised to hear those words come out of Noire's mouth. There were words that she knew she didn't want to hear, and those words were worse.

"Noire, what are you doing!?"

"I could, finally, die…"

('Oh no… she's gone suicidal?!')

Rei knew that if Noire dies, then the only people that would be running Lastation would be a pair of complete psychopaths. Kei and Psyche would take it upon themselves to dominate the rest of the world, using Noire as a martyr to justify their warlike behavior to their people.

Or worse, Lowee becomes able to use the resources of Tari and seek world domination themselves.

If one those two nations would dominate the world, then there lie two options.

One – the CPU system dies out, thus erasing life altogether.

Two – the CPU system dominates, erasing the people's free will.

Rei went to great lengths to prevent these outcomes. She erased her old identity. Destroyed people. Discarded her powers. Her sword.

She was not going to let Lowee take _her_ stuff, and ruin _her_ plans.

"Heheheha… Hahahaha! The **bitch**, thinking she can take the gift of death without **my** permission!"

As if her jetpack had suffered no technical issues, she lands herself right on top of a buried share crystal. Noire heard the commotion and looked back to see 'Rachel Kiseijou' enveloped in blue energy.

_WHUMP_

Noire blacked out to a single punch.

"I'm not **letting** you die yet, Black Sister."

Distorted, layer upon layer of voices pitch after pitch after pitch after rise after fall after rise

**KRACKOOM**

Rei drops Noire into a tree below.

"There you are, you lavender-colored shit-eating **bitch!** It's **go** time!"

Flying upwards, Rei prepares to cast an incredible spell. Covered in red energy, she fires a blast headed straight for Lowee's CPU. Cube, unable to notice until impact, was rocked by an explosion.

But Rogue Heart was only getting started. Grabbing Cube's face and turning it to Visonar, she screams…

"This will teach you what happens when you defile my **ancestral** home!"

* * *

"So, I thought when these two goth-looking preteens came by, I thought they wouldn't care to do much of anything but when I rounded the corner, there they were. One of them, the bigger one, pulled a hammer out of nowhere and cast a spell that froze my tires."

"Hakozaki, do you remember what that person said when she cast the spell?"

"Gefar-something."

"Gefar-something?"

"I don't know what 'something' is, officer."

"Okay then. Gefarlichtern. Does that sound right?"

Chika flinched at that word. The police officer took it as a positive identification.

"Okay, Chika. Goth-looking chicks, using a Loweean spell. Unfortunately, that spell is ridiculously basic. Doesn't narrow our search at all, even if it means that no nobody from Lastation would use it. That nation has too much of a black market for some criminal to want an easily learned spell from the other side of the world. Still, if the culprit was more intelligent than we thought…"

"We are pretty close to the Academy. Perhaps an old flame…"

Chika held up her hand to that comment.

"I've never dated."

Sighing the police officer looked back to his notes.

"Well, there's no evidence of rape, so genetic samples are out of the question here."

"We're done here. Thanks for the help. If you want to hang out sometime…" the other cop started.

"Dude, you're seriously trying to trade numbers right now?! We're on the clock!"

"Sure, but I've never seen you before." Chika said.

"Name's August. I often see you when I'm on patrol. Never knew what all that stuff in the trunk's for." Giving Chika his number, he's shooed out by his workplace partner.

Looking at the nurse, Chika tried asking again…

"Where's Vert?"

"Vert Hakozaki? She's stable, relaxing in the floor above."

Breathing a sigh of relief, Chika slumped back into her bed. Only…

"What?! She's here too? How long was she outside?!"

"Chika, please calm down and rest! She's doing fine and wishes to see you soon."

* * *

"Ping!"

A swift, solid kick launched Cube into a formation of Lowee's soldiers.

"Pong!"

A punch launched her into a Lastation skyscraper.

By this point the light grey ships of Lowee were routing back to the old Eden border.

"Six!"

**BOOSHBOOSHBOOMBOOMBOOMPOP**

Six battleships obliterated by Rei's outstretched palm, blasts nearing closer and closer.

"Point!"

**CRUNCH**

Bringing her hands together, Rei slammed her fists into Cube's arms, dislocating their joints.

"Five!"

**BOOSHBOOSHBOOMBOOMBOOM**

None of the battleships remained in her sight. No more soldiers. Just…

"Komiiiii! **HAHAHAHA!"**

Teleporting a few meters above the water, Rei boosted Cube into the sunset so hard, the purple goddess submerged into the ocean and resurfaced beyond the horizon.

"Hahaha. Ha ha. The irony…"

HDD destabilized. Rei's vision replaced itself with the darkness of the water below.

* * *

"A clean entry."

Blanc opened the door to Chika's room. It was cramped, filled with an array of equipment ranging from medical to communications. White Heart rubbed her hands together, with a sinister look on her face.

"Big sis, are you peeing yourself?"

Rom's question snapped Blanc straight out of her trance. Looking to the floor, she noticed that a clear, colorless liquid stained the floor below her, as well as her legs. Fortunately, the floor was made of wood.

Mopping up the mess she made with a handkerchief, she stood upright, looking at the CPU candidate.

"Okay, Rom. This time we need to make it look like nothing's stolen."

Opening up her enchanted tome, Blanc wasted no time.

Hakozaki's secrets will immediately be hers.

* * *

Noire woke up from a killer headache.

_PLISH_

There were several thoughts running through her head. Rachel Kiseijou. Cube Nishizawa. Her relatives.

_PLOOSH_

Most importantly though, she thought she died. She wanted to die then.  
But even so, she never wanted to go through that experience again.

**PLOOSH**

"Seriously, what the hell was that noise?!"

Turning around, she sees "Rachel" struggling to grip onto driftwood as she's washing up from sea.

_PLISH_

And behind her, a malfunctioning jetpack spewing large bubbles in random, intermittent patterns.

"Rachel?! Wait, where's the invaders?! What happened?"

Grabbing her, Noire is greeted to Kiseijou coughing out seawater from her lungs.

"I… uh… saw Rei Ryghts…"

"**Rei Ryghts?!"**

"She saw Lowee's CPU, and played with her like a toy…"

"The hell you mean by that?! Rachel! Why were you covered in blue aura before?!" Noire screamed. No response. "Don't bullshit me! I saw you wrapped in bright light! I blacked out! What're you **hiding?!"**

Looking at Noire's angered expression, Rei knew. "I know now… I can't hide this anymore."

"You. You are Rei Ryghts. You punched me, then you did whatever **that** was, didn't you?!"

A slight nod. "Can you keep this a secret? Even from your own family?"

Looking incredulous, Noire's face contorted to betray her rage and disgust. "Why should you trust me?!"

"Why should you trust your sister? You look like, and acted like, you were going to kill yourself." Pulling Noire closer, Rei presses on. "I didn't want you to. Isn't that more than what she wanted?"

Noire's eye contact showed her emotions blaze from fear, to disappointment, and then understanding.

"Fine. Just be happy that my family situation is a complete shitshow. Now what?" Noire whispered.

"You're good at illusion spells, aren't you? Make it look like I attacked you and ran like hell."

"Very well. Think fast." Stabbing her sword underneath Rei's armpit, into the sand, black smoke and sharp winds wrapped Noire and Ryghts. Rei moved back to the forest behind them, obscured by Noire's invisibility spell. Noire launched herself backwards, and an explosion fired off with an illusory doppelganger of Ryghts jetting herself into the sea, creating an enormous splash in the process.

* * *

"Mm… I didn't know that something so savory could have such delicious texture!"

Savory endive custard topped with oysters and fresh truffles. Rainbow chard was chopped up and mixed in the egg mixture, imparting complex, powerful flavors into the dish and contrasting with its toppings. It was decadent, sophisticated, and ridiculously expensive, eating up a whopping 1000 credits.

"Nep, I don't see how or why you would spend that much money on today's lunch."

"But we can earn a lot more from doing quests at the guild."

"Do I seriously have to remind you that Histoire's archives were altered?! Recovering that data is more important than sampling the local cuisine." The brunette whips her hair behind her head.

"But we're stimulating the local economy!"

"We're in _Leanbox._"

"But pudding!"

"For once, can you act like a responsible fucking adult?!"

* * *

Cyclone BBS

nbt was offline for a while  
nbt remembers covered up shit thats literally older than lastation  
nbt published government conspiracies about lowee  
peashy  
idk he probably died from old age or got shot

got shot  
dude not funny

dude not funny  
this isnt some safe space mofo gtfo

idk he probably died from old age or got shot  
stfu im breathing just got out the hospital after being robbed

robbed  
real shit?

real shit?  
someone broke into my house and kicked me in the back of the head  
stole my booze  
they dont know whodunit

stole my booze  
fuck man i feel sorry for you


	8. Time Bomb

"So Neptune, you remember what the chronological distortions are in this time period?"

Looking at the violet-haired goddess, the brunette stared sternly.

"One – Noire, Rom, and Blanc were born much earlier than usual, and almost all of Lowee's prior CPUs seem to be wiped out. Two – Uzume's rule lasted a lot longer than usual, because for some reason her powers are suppressed or toned down. Three – there seems to be a much different government in Planeptune than what I seen before. Democratization happened only during or after my rule in the original timeline. Beforehand it was either ruled by the rich or the physically powerful."

"You missed the bit where beam sabers are invented a lot earlier than before, but good enough." The brunette looked at her data with scrunched eyes. "This is so much worse than the time where I worked with Segami to fix a universe where elements from our two worlds met. At least you're not in my bike."

"I don't know _why_ I'm out of that metal frame, especially with a big fat headache that _you_ don't want me to get rid of for some reason, but…"

"Can it, Neptune. We need to run some jobs at the guild because you spent so _much_ money on lunch."

"It was only 1000 credits! We could earn that back through just an A-ranked job!"

"Inflation, dumbass. Earning money is **five times** harder now."

"Oough. Uh, sorry about that…" Neptune said, scratching her short, rough hair behind her.

"Tanbo e yokoso, baka. Hopefully there should be a job that would fit our needs."

Looking over the guild's requests, they noted that the hunt quests are relatively rare, most of them going under a list titled "invasive species". There are a few simple population control requests, however.

"This one's simple. Dogoos, farmers, usual schick. I'm just happy you aren't so underleveled that you run risk of get your ass handed to you. Still, our goal is to find the perpetrator and their motive."

"Then we figure out if we slap 'em or not, right? By the way, Iffy… how would we get 1000 credits from killing a bunch of dogoos? That's awfully high…"

Looking at the request again, IF noted that it, indeed, asked for the elimination of around 20 dogoos for **2300** credits. After re-reading the request again, she pinched Neptune by the ear and got on her bike.

* * *

Location: Virtua Forest | Quest Name: dogoos

Description:

_oh goddess oh fuck theres 5 of these things and they started some big furry orgy pls kill em asap theyre eating everything_

Reward invalid if dogoo population within client's property exceeds 20. – Uranus

Rewards:

2300 credits, Year-long transit pass

* * *

"Heaven Demon!"

IF launched an attack that sent the dogoos in the place reeling. "Eat lead!" IF followed up with a flurry of shots fired out of her machine pistol, lodging numerous holes in any dogoo stupid enough to remain in her sights. Meanwhile, Neptune prepared a spell of her own.

"32-Bit Mega Blade!"

A dogoo lunged himself at Neptune, covering her in slimy goo.

"Useless!"

With a pirouette, she flings the dogoo into the fence where it burst open and disintegrated.

"Flame soul slice!" IF dived after the last remaining dogoos and blasted them with fire magic.

"Owwww…." A voice came out from behind the two girls. It was a pudgy male, barely of the age of 14. He was injured by a stray bullet that caused his right arm to bleed.

"Aw crap!" IF shrieked, rushing over to the bleeding kid.

"Nice going, Iffy. You shot your client. Through a wall. I thought you were more professional than that."

"Shut up, and help me, Neptune!" IF said, opening her travel kit to find disinfectant and bandages.

"I'm not actually that good at medicine, Iffy." Neptune said.

"Why the fuck are you making energy drinks then if you aren't good at medicine?! What, do you tend to maul your patients or buckle your hands when using a knife?!" IF shouted.

"Crowding the operating table won't help." Neptune said. "I'll lie down in the shade until you're done."

It took a lot of effort for IF to extract the bullet from the boy's arm and bandage it together.

* * *

"So how did the transaction go, Iffy?"

IF responded by giving Neptune the finger.

"Oough. That bad, huh? Not my fault."

"No, we got the money. By showing how much _stuff_ we have we were able to bluff him into thinking that withholding the bus pass from us would piss me off more."

"That was really mean, Iffy. Where's your bike?"

"Huh?! What-" IF started to panic. "Where's my ride?! If we lose it, we won't have a way to get home!"

"Relax, Iffy. It's at the bottom of the slope. See?" Neptune points to the creek at the nadir of the valley. In it lay the bike, tipped over on its side. IF shown her appreciation by kicking Neptune down the hillside.

* * *

"There seems to be a lot of information in here. Most of the data she saved however seems to pertain towards CPU anatomy." Blanc muttered. "She seems to have a habit of deleting and overwriting stuff because I can't seem to get anything _good_ out of it. I know that Nado's working on _something_, but I can't see why he's going through all this trouble to… wait a minute."

Peering closer at the script, Blanc realized that Chika's a… complicated individual. "What the hell is this?! It's not even related to any of Nado's work! Massive accounts all over the place, bloodwork, and Napiad archaeology! The fuck! I don't want any of this junk!"

Rom is searching through some documents herself and found something. "Blanc, when was her printer used last? These files smell fresh. It's like they were steeped in tea except the tea leaves were ink cartridges." Glancing over the paper documents, she noticed "There seems to be stuff about CPU memory crystals in here that might be usefu- **UWAAAH! HOT!**"

"Rom! Damn it, are you okay?!" Blanc rushed over to Rom, whose hand was singed pink. Conjuring an improvised ice pack, she holds it to her sister's palm. "Shit, don't scare me like that!"

Holding the enchanted tome in her hands, Blanc cast a spell to cool down the printer's circuits. "Wow, this thing has been working **o-ver-time!** What is going through this bitch's brain to think that running things this hot is a good idea?" Using the tome to scan through the printer, she found that it was being used frequently, printing at least 2.5k pages a month. "How _**expensive**_ is this shit she's pulling here?!"

**THUMP**

Disconnecting from the printer (and powering it down) she follows Rom back to the massive filing cabinet that was disturbed by the tome's scanning routine.

"Tch. I would have thought that with all the trouble she went through in liquid-cooling her computer she'll do the same for the printer. What kind of secrets is she holding in paper media? Almost none of this stuff sees any wear! What's the point of taking so much space if you don't get any energy savings out of not spinning a disk 24/7?!" Blanc's grumbling was interrupted by a flash of light created by her tome, burning an image brightly into the CPUs' brains.

The last conscious memories they had of that room was their screams.

* * *

Cube was flying unconscious through the air, headed directly towards Blutarch Island, a former Eden territory now under Lowee rule.

**THUMP**

She was absolutely humiliated by Rei Ryghts. Sure enough, her cocky, smartass attitude made her overlook the possibility that Rei would interfere in her plans, especially since Tari used to hold territory that now belongs to Lastation. Pulling herself out of the water, she takes in the scenery around her.

"How… How is she this strong? She has no followers, let alone worshippers…" _koff koff_… "But she still was able to blow up entire fleets with psionic blasts! That freak…"

Looking up, she notices that Mina, her oracle, is talking to a woman wearing a silver and indigo-blue toga, with a very otherworldly appearance. Athena. It can't be anyone else.

"Oracle! Status report!"

"Eleven ships in our naval fleet sunk. No soldiers responded beyond the Eden border." Mina grumbled.

"Whatever Rei wants, she doesn't let anything get in her way to reach it. The titan seems to be favoring Planeptune more than Lowee for some reason." Athena said.

"Titan?!" That use of the word is alien to Cube. "What do you mean by that?"

"When you are out of followers, CPUs enter a state called Titan mode. The name is derived off of mythology older than even myself, and I would much rather not divulge that information to you. At this point it's all fluff to the bigger picture. Perhaps, if Lowee conquers Lastation, it would prove to be a significant hindrance in her plans." Athena said, scratching her head.

"I thought you were on our side." Cube said in an accusatory tone. "Why aren't you _doing_ anything about the other nations? Why aren't you doing anything about Rei Ryghts?"

"Cube, get some rest and let me handle the diplomacy." Mina said, sweat dripping off her forehead. "Nobody, not even an oracle, could think clearly when flustered like that. Don't push yourself."

"No! I work for results! I refuse to be a filthy worm and hide in a corner as soon as the going gets tough! Who do you think you are, telling me what to do?" Even so, Cube's face betrayed her exhaustion.

**WHUMP**

Mina's hand is planted directly on Cube's face. The speed in which she executed the maneuver was so fast it even startled Athena, and the kinetic energy was enough to send both of them into the other half of the room, where Athena can't see either of their faces. But she can hear words.

"What. Do. Good. Little. Girls. Do?"

Normally, when Mina evokes this side of her personality, it's usually pure, unfiltered anger. But in this instance, her face betrayed a primal fear, despite the voice being filled with a cold fury. Cube, despite her socially awkward and egotistical personality, was able to put two and two together.

Do not test Athena.

Do not trust Athena.

Cube mouths a single word through her lips, hidden from their mutual "friend" in totality.

"Sorry."

Dropping her, Mina regained composure and looked back at Athena.

"I apologize. Are you willing to answer any more questions about your other half?" Mina said.

Athena shook her head.

"Very well then. You are free to leave. Cube isn't the friendliest of CPUs. I trust this incident wouldn't stain our relationship in the future." Gesturing with an outstretched palm, Mina motioned to the door.

* * *

"Cube. You haven't talked in more than 48 hours. I know you don't see eye to eye with Blanc…"

"Mina, forget it. Blanc's not in charge anymore. I have five years of complete freedom to do whatever I want, and I want to make my mark on the world as the greatest CPU in Lowee's existence. And that means erasing all of my sister's mistakes." Cube says, shaking her head.

"_Well what exactly is your agenda beyond something as lofty as that? 'I wanna be the very best.' The best at what? What are your targets? Do something! You're boring the shit out of me!"_

Cube and Mina's faces froze instantly at those words. _Nobody_ should be accompanying them right now.

"Who's there!? **Reveal yourself!**" Cube screamed in frustration.

"_Yeesh! Chill out. I just want to have some fun watching the nations go at each others' throats, but it seems like an old friend ruined most of that for me. You might be acquainted with her yourselves. Gotta admit though, nothing's more fun to watch than a silver getting bodied by a plat."_

These insensitive comments made Mina uncomfortable. "So, you are a sadist then."

"_Don't confuse me with Planeptune's first CPU, lollipops. Though considering you aren't Blanc…"_

"Psh, hehe." Mina found it hard to suppress a laugh. Perhaps it was because Blanc and Rom were on the other side of Planeptune conducting an investigation of their own.

"_See? I'm not a monster. Now why can't we just have a nice chat?"_

* * *

"Noire. You're back. How are you feeling?"

Shaking her head at Kei's greeting, Noire walked downcast back into her room.

"You were at Tari's old capital. Did you find anything interesting there?"

Kei betrayed no emotion behind her expression to Noire. Her face is neutral. Her tone, calm.

"Look, Kei. I had a run-in with a foreign CPU. I have a lot to think about right now."

"Come on, Noire. Don't be like your sister, indulge me." Kei kept up the pressure.

"Do you even **care** about me? I literally just said I had a run-in with a foreign CPU and all you do is ask me for **information**." Noire followed up. "I could have died there!"

"Where's the body?"

Noire's face, in pure rage, contorted like a ball of paper.

"I'll give a report once I'm done collecting my thoughts. Goodbye."

"I had reports of two CPUs battling it out in the skies, destroying at least one building filled with civilians. I expect a **full** report. Everything, Noire. Do not disappoint me."

"Yeah sure. Give me a couple of days."

Noire swiftly, yet gently, closed her door.

Knocking politely into Psyche's room, Kei brandishes a set of papers.

Satellite footage. Radio chatter. Codes and transcriptions.

News that Tari's oracle was spotted at Eden borders not long ago.

A debriefing on the status of Lastation scouts in Navox.

**BZZZAP**

"Come in, Kei."

The door itself dematerialized, and the holodeck was refitted into the office room that Psyche used for official meetings. All business, no pleasure.

"Psyche. It seems like Noire inadvertently went on a defense mission in Tari's old ruins."

Raising an eyebrow, Psyche grabbed the papers out of Kei's hands and flipped through them.

"Well, well, well. It seems like the little bitch could pull _something_ off if pushed hard enough. Perhaps I should assign her more guard duty, what do you think?"

Kei replied to Psyche's idea with a wave of her hand. "Bad idea."

"What do you know? Personally, I think she'll be pretty good at it. It's undeniable after all that she's amazing at illusion magic." Shaking her head, Psyche takes a drink out of the canteen on her belt.

"She barely understands the lay of the land, Psyche. Do you think it's a good idea if she goes near Vulcanus Base? Planeptune would **juice** her!"

Sweat dropping from her forehead, Psyche imagined the implications of sending Noire out to do missions where geopolitical boundaries need to be known by a person who rarely went outside.

"Oh Kei, always reigning in my lofty ambitions with the grounds of reality. So, how should we celebrate the relative success of our scouts?" Psyche brushed aside her greying strands of hair as the two prepared to host a tournament in the midst of the coastal city of Namito. Their birthplace, and capital.

* * *

"_See? I'm not a monster. Now why can't we just have a nice chat?"_

**WHUMP**

Mina planted her staff straight into the wall.

**KRACKOOM**

Followed up with a spell, the illusory wall shattered into a pile of broken glass, revealing a damaged, red tome with a pentagram inscribed on it. It opened up and started flipping itself rapidly.

"**IM NOT LETTING YOU GET AWAY!"**

Inscribing a hex of her own on the ground, Mina's staff created a multi-dimensional seal that prevented the tome from moving or opening a portal. Her eyes, bloodshot. Her face betraying wrinkles of age.

"_Wow Mina. What a noob spell. Go read a book or something. Idiot."_

With those words being said, a portal opened up to a wasteland dimension, ionizing the Lowee main holodeck with so much energy that several modules burned out and caught fire, betraying its skeletal silicon interior. Alarms buzzed and the fire control systems started to flood the room.

Mina wasn't able to maintain focus over the containment hex and the book warped itself out of Lowee, leaving an irradiated mess. The oracle mage collapsed on the floor.

"Mina!"

"C-c…"

"Mina **come on**!"

"C-cast…"

Unveiling a scroll from her robe, Cube was handed a spell that is literally made to do one thing.

"**AXPHYXIATE!"**

* * *

**KRACKOOMSHHHHT**

The explosion rocked the Loweean mainland. The Basilicom was disintegrated in a massive explosion that taken down not only the building itself, but most of the city around it.

And the sound of it rocked the nation to its core. The island of Whitebeacon, surrounded by pristine waters and small island villages, bore witness to the spectacular event. Guards stationed at the watchtower could only observe as their families died in spectacular or agonizingly painful deaths.

Athena, however, is at one of those villages, and could only see a wisp of smoke coming from the city.

"Did someone send a nuke to Udakyo?" Athena felt around for her bow.

"_I wouldn't jump to conclusions that quickly, Athena."_

That voice instantly straightened Athena's face. It was a familiar, unpleasant voice.

"Croire." Realizing the implications of splitting herself into two halves, she closes her eyes and listened.

"_I'm quite frankly surprised you haven't tried taking back Planeptune yet. You were always ragging on about Rei Ryghts and trying to destroy her for what she did to fellow CPUs. How she scarred your face. How humans should know their place underneath your nation's boots. You were upset at the fact that Tari had taken your idea and perfected it. Confused by Rei trying to end CPU rule for good."_

"You are trying to egg me on. I'll have you know that I won't be manipulated so easily into doing something I'll regret. The same shit won't work on me twice."

"_Psh. Boring piece of shit you are. However, I'm interested in letting you know about your other half. She taken a new name – Arfoire. She's in Planeptune right now."_

"And why are you telling me this?"

"_She tried some absolutely wicked shit to the civvies there. Blew up a hospital even. I think it shouldn't surprise you that Planeptune captured her and they are transporting the cretin to Coastlight city."_

"Did you just call me a **cretin?**"

"_Coastlight is a wonderful tourist attraction now. I had some tacos over there while enjoying the sun, sand, and surf. You didn't know a tome can surf, did you?"_

"Don't **evade** my question, pixie. What the hell did you just call me a cretin for?"

"_Wow, come on. I was referring to your other half as a cretin, not you. I always imagined her as your reptilian brain half while you were the superego. She's a complete fucking animal. What she sees, she eats. Fish. Birds. Deer. People. Buildings. Wears a slutty dress to accentuate her curves. I thought you had some level of decency but it seems like you have some kinks to work out yourself."_

"Seriously? Fuck you."

"_Like your menstruation cycle."_

"Again? Fuck you. I'm going to Coastlight."

Digging into her pockets and consuming a share crystal, Athena opened a tome of her own and essentially fast-travelled to the major cultural center.

Waiting for her to leave, the small red tome manifested a portal towards Lastation.

"_Dumbass. Played directly into my hands."_

* * *

Uranus sat in front of a console where in detail she observed Arfoire.

She was assigned as backup in case the threat attempted to escape.

Apparently, from what Histoire said, Arfoire is a powerful mage that had CPU-like abilities, and should be treated with the same respect one might give to a nuclear bomb.

The somber nature of the mission is contrasted with the beautiful cityscape of Rhomium.

"Hard to believe that we're moving what could potentially be a CPU in a place where there's a bunch of people living here." The CPU candidate said.

"Geopolitics. Also, Uranus, shut up. I know you're young, but you can't just be saying these things. People are in danger here." After saying that the general moved towards the console. "It does seem like the disruptor crystals were the best option on the table. Look at those things losing mass. Astonishing."

Looking away from the console and out to the open ocean, Uranus noticed a faint blue flash of light coming from the Loweean border, lighting up the night sky.

"What was that?"

Uranus pointed her finger at the clouds. The guards beside her tilted their heads closer to the window.

"It was probably lightning. Get some rest, tomorrow is going to be a big day."


	9. Hardcore Recovery

"Histoire, I want to call it a day and get home."

Umio was frustrated. His workday was far longer than he hoped or anticipated, and the CPU became sick with a disease that he had no idea how to treat.

Uranus was missing. The only person that greeted Umio was Histoire.

"Not yet, Umio. You're going to tell me _**everything**_ I need to know."

Histoire was trying to be intimidating, but all Umio expressed was...

_('Light of the heavens... Why did I take this job?')_

* * *

_Two days later... (Originally, I wanted to go back to this point in time from chapter 4 by chapter 6. How embarrassing.)_

_I'm going to give a recap of everything that happened in the last 4 chapters for those who didn't want to reread everything._

_1\. Nado was knocked out cold by Blanc and Rom. Those two have been spying trying to figure out why Rei Ryghts was in Planeptune._

_2\. Athena's worse half, Arfoire, is currently captured by Planeptune's military through the use of anti-CPU crystals. Histoire objects to the devices._

_3\. Chika and Vert Hakozaki are recovering in hospital after Arfoire attacked the main medical center in the Leanbox province._

_4\. Noire witnessed Rei's power as she completely annihilated Cube's invasion of Lastation (through territory from the old nation of Tari)._

_5\. Athena's better half learned about Arfoire's capture, and is travelling to Coastlight to intercept Uranus and the transport carrying Arfoire._

_6\. Croire travelled to Lastation for reasons unknown. She feeds off of conflict, in contrast to Histoire, who grows stronger in times of peace._

* * *

Nado finally reached the Basilicom after his trip to the hospital. He needed to treat Uzume immediately. She required exercise, and lots of it.

"Histoire!" he called out. "Where's Uzume!?"

"She's here. I have been detecting large amounts of-"

"Spare the details. Leave me with her."

"Nado, I don't think you have the proper qualifications to handle-"

"Histoire, I _know_ what's wrong. Uzume, you're going to get that preteen-looking ass of yours moving, and you are going to like it. Jumping jacks, come on! One! Two! Three!"

Uzume wasn't budging. She was still conscious, but getting up was hard. Nado reached for Tuffmill and fed her the entire bottle.

"Nado, what in the world are you doing?! Are you crazy?! You'll kill her!"

Turning his head towards Histoire, Nado kept a straight face, but muttered in a chilling tone.

"If you want Uzume to know what I'm doing, you'll leave the room. I want her alive as much as you do, and if you want this to work, you need to trust me, or she'll be here for over a week. You and I know that we're running behind on deadlines and if we want this large swath of territory stable, we need to work fast."

Histoire frowned and became silent.

"You're just as bad as Plutia was."

She left the two to their own devices.

"Histoire's gone?" Nado asked into a communications device handed to him at the entrance. "Yes. She's currently in her personal quarters reading about Leanbox territory and reviewing the reports given about an entity calling herself Arfoire." The response was delayed by a few seconds while Nado was trying to rouse Uzume. "Good. Find a way to keep her occupied. Throttle her connection if you have to."

Nado hung up and turned his full attention to Uzume.

"Uzume, remember that incident with Rei Ryghts? That power of hers carried a hefty price. The share energy you carry now is contaminated by its inverse, and the reaction isn't good. You need to find a way to burn off that unstable energy reserve. Rei Ryghts recommended exercise, since recovering normally would take around a week. Apparently when you used share energy with the anti-CPU crystals your condition worsened."

Uzume was finally able to talk.

"Is this what Rei felt when she's consuming share energy?"

Nado shook his head. "Probably not, as I'm guessing that it's her main way of accumulating share energy nowadays. She's in what she and Athena call 'Titan mode', which was named after the ancient mythologies that inspired Athena's quite frankly twisted work in the first place. If you think that Rei Ryghts was a bad CPU, Athena was **much** worse." Nado gone into an exercise pose he practiced since his time as a commando long ago. "Enough of that. You need to be mobile at all times, or we'll be late."

* * *

15 minutes later, Histoire waited impatiently outside for Nado to finish with his recovery program.

To her surprise, both of them went outside. Uzume was sweating vigorously, while Nado was pumping his arms out with a smile on his face.

"C'mon Uzume, you can't get better that way alone. Move your arms faster. I want to see you sweat!"

Histoire was dumbfounded. "How?" she asked.

Nado struck a pose with rapid flamboyance. "Magic!" he boasted.

"How? What spell did you use?" Histoire was pretty mad at Nado right now.

"Uh-uh! A magician never reveals his tricks!" he taunted. "Well, for it to work I had to show Uzume, right?"

"Uzume gotta keep these legs moving, get her feet pumping!" Uzume responded.

"Break it, Uzume!" Nado shouted. Uzume responded by spinning on her back. "Good. Water. Drink."

Rushing towards the basilicom kitchen, Nado starts preparing a meal.

"You're only down 20 minutes. I need you to keep moving for 100 more!"

Histoire frowned more, and rushed towards her civilian companion. "Are you sure this is going to work?"

Nado turns his head back. "At Crimson Island I used a stunt that I glossed over the owner's manual for. Only know how to initiate it and the troubleshooting pages."

She only frowned further. "You're insane."

"I had few options."

"Get out of the Basilicom."

"You should be aware that you can't do that. Legally, I'm the executive overseeing you guys because of my military experience. You are royalty, sure, but parliament is supreme, and I only enforce parliamentary supremacy. After all, **Uzume likes me, right?**"

"Uzume says Histy sounds angry at Nado-chi!"

"Besides, I read what's going down at the Basilicom before I got here. High temperature, no sweating even after drinking a lot of water, high levels of anti-CPU energy in her system? Did I get that right, Histoire?"

Histoire was silent.

"I know you don't need me to do your job. But I know how to do it, so can you please let me work?"

Histoire sighed. "Fine. But don't let me catch you acting like that again."

"No promises. Time sensitive matter, you know? I rather not cause fights but you know this problem was urgent."

Finished with making fish tacos, Nado set the culinary assets onto the table and called Uzume over to eat.

"Just one." They were rather small. "I need you to keep moving, and having you throw up on the floor is not my idea of a good time. You haven't eaten in a while. And Histoire? Do you feel that? The humidity is rising. Turn on the AC while I monitor her condition."

"What did you discuss with Rei Ryghts at Crimson Island?"

Nado froze.

"I heard you say something along the lines of Rei Ryghts being friendly and wanting to help with the issue at Crimson Island. What for?"

Nado regained his composure quickly, and turned to face Histoire. "Did you receive reports of any Lastation troops in any of the four provinces?"

Histoire shook her head.

"Rei presumed that Lastation was responsible for the sabotage at Crimson Island, and brokered our survival in exchange with an agreement that this incident won't provoke an armed conflict with that nation. If you look at our most public reports of our border troops and bases, you'll be able to observe why. Vulcanus and XL Factory are the only fortresses that border with Lastation's main border, which means going through Tari's old territory would be the most likely vector of attack. She also presumes Romium and Leanbox unimportant to us as it never held a CPU directly. We obviously have a lot of missile infrastructure compared to CPU tech."

"I see... I'm surprised Lastation would make such a brazen attempt at provoking an armed conflict with us. I thought those missiles you used meant something."

"Well, they did, otherwise they would have been a lot more direct. Our share energy supplies isn't good, so they'll probably be able to take on our CPU with no problems. And then there's the matter of Eden..."

"Uzume feels much better now." The CPU's fever is gone, but she's drenched in sweat.

"Keep going. I want to be sure this condition isn't going to crop up again." Nado replied. "I also heard that anti-CPU crystals were notably effective against an unknown on the day that Uzume was put out of commission. You are aware of it. Do you want to brief me on the situation?"

"I got it under control."

"That thing's a goddess, isn't it?"

"Perhaps. I don't see why you need to know."

"Perhaps you don't, but I already know enough. I don't need to get directly involved with it though, since it's already captured. Now if you excuse me, I'm going to check on my own health and see if I need to sleep on this one, or if I'm ready to get to work."

Walking outside, he met face to face with Inspector Towers, the man that assisted him in getting to the Basilicom.

"Test me for drunkeness, but without a breath sample."

* * *

"All clear."

"I'm going to Napiad. Alone. Umio's going to stay with Uzume, and you are going to go back to work. Don't disappoint me. I'm going to talk to Chika Hakozaki about the days of work we all missed, and she didn't contact me or anything. I suspect something went seriously wrong here."

"Understood. I'll call you if anything comes up."

* * *

Chika was beside a bedridden Vert Hakozaki when she was visited by Nado.

"Chika Hakozaki. Interesting times call for interesting measures. How's your head?"

"I'm feeling a lot better now, thank you. I... wanted to be beside Vert for a few minutes before I go back to work."

"Same as me, huh? Coma?"

Chika shakes her head. "Whiplash. I was in a neck brace for a few minutes while being fed drugs through an IV drip."

"Ouch. I remember having that from time to time in my racing days. Always sucks. How are the environmental reports going? Anything about the topsoil in Mountview's wine vineyards? What's the progress on the ecological restoration program in Halo Forest?"

Chika stares blankly and shakes her head. "I haven't been at work in three days, Nado."

"Did you process the report regarding the pollutants found in Crimson Island?"

"I told you, I didn't. I spent an extra two days at the hospital."

"What about ConPat Units?"

Chika blinked for a moment. Nado's face remained neutral.

"Uh, what? I never read anything like that."

"Hm. What about the new administrator-access account that came up in our database?"

Chika's stomach flipped. She made that account.

"Are you saying I've been promoted?"

Nado shook his head. "Apparently, someone else at the administrator level thought you deserved increased pay, and I thought, considering everything you did so far, I might as well give you that position. We need more staff on board after all and you work rather hard. I written out a new salary for you but I'm letting you know that there's a little bit of wiggle room available. Think long and hard about this. Last thing I need is flak from Uranus or Histoire about underpaying a female employee."

Chika was speechless.

"No need to thank me. I do need those reports done though, that shit's been hitting the fan for two days and it's getting filth everywhere. I also expect you to cooperate with the police regarding a break-in at my place."

Nado started to walk out of the door.

"Wait."

Nado stopped.

"Can you repeat what you said?"

"Someone broke into my house."

Chika stopped talking, but was making hand gestures as if she's trying to piece something together. _('So Nado, a government official, got his residence broken into, and I, another government official, got my truck wrecked by a pedestrian. We both share in common a massive repository of information and an insecure place to get it...')_

"That means I'm next." Chika mouthed, eyes bulging like a fish. No sound, but Nado can _see_ the words in her mouth.

"I have to go." Chika said, and pushed Nado out of the way as she speed-walked downstairs.

* * *

Nado was trailing Chika Hakozaki as the verdette was running red lights to get to her apartment complex. Chika was speeding, but Nado had the benefit of a _very_ fast motorcycle. Chika can't hear Nado over the sound of her own machine though, and screeched to a halt outside her apartment complex.

She fumbled around with her credentials, and scrambled to open the door.

"Shit, shit, shit! C'mon, please..."

The door gave way, and Chika's inside. Nado, meanwhile, parked his bike inside her truck's cargo bed.

_('A spear? I didn't know Hakozaki was a fisherman.')_

Nado set the brakes and turned off the engine. He set a rappelling line to the top of the apartment complex, and scrambled to the top in the dim lights of the street. Picking the relatively simple lock that secures the roof access, he set his sights on the elevator. Chika used it instead of the stairs. He waited until the number stops changing.

_('Floor 15. No need for stealth. Let's hit the pavement.')_

Hakozaki approached the door to her apartment building, spear in hand. She cautiously opens the door, and revealed blue, dripping sigils. She knows those sigils. Anyone that sees them would copy them without regard to what they're going to copy that sigil _with_. Surprisingly, she sees no red steaks of viscous fluid that denote dead human burglars that would have came up if they didn't leave the place. And she hears commotion.

_"Oh goddess no..."_

She opened the door, seeing her fridge empty and two intruders.

Blanc, and Rom.

Chika closed the door swiftly, soiling the floor supporting her body from a 140 foot plummet. Her breathing was hastened, and she was sweating cold. When she turned towards the stairs, she saw an unwelcome sight.

Nado.

"Run!"

Nado kept walking toward Chika Hakozaki. He activated his beam saber, and it illuminated the room in a sickly azure hue.

"Don't you fucking hear me? Run, away!"

Nado ignored her.

"Two fucking CPUs are in there tearing up my apartment thanks to the Medusa Program! You'll fucking **die**! RUN!"

"What does it mean if you're not affected by it?"

"You don't understand - the Medusa Program was designed to focus all of a person's thoughts towards replicating its pattern. It affects **everyone** that doesn't have the immunity cipher in memory, and without medical intervention, a person can end up **dead** because of it!"

"Why the **fuck** do you have such a curse in your room in the first place?"

**"Do you want to know? Really?"**

**"Yes!"**

"Because Vert."

Nado was running out of patience. "I heard enough. You **need** me to fix this. Give me the immunity cipher."

"Why should I?"

"Because **I am an oracle, damn it!"**

Chika was dumbfounded.

"Really?"

"Planeptune's one and only. Histoire's a puppet, but if she knows about this, I'm fucking **dead**. You will tell **nobody. Understand?**"

Chika calmed her breathing down a moment before speaking again.

"It's in the truck. I don't carry it on my person. You need to stare at it for twenty minutes otherwise the cipher would have no effect. While under the Medusa Program CPUs probably won't transform. I heard viruses of any sort do that kind of thing. It should be enough for me to hold them in place, but be quick."

Nado pickpocketed Chika's access card, and sprinted faster than she ever seen before.

**BANG, BANG**

"Come on, Nado, please..."

Twenty seconds later, Nado's back upstairs with the immunity cipher in tow.

"Don't let them read it. There's a safety embedded that causes its victims to stare at the immunity cipher for extended periods of time. And you need to relax."

**WHAM, WHAM**

"Hard to do that right now." Nado said, and grabbed an anti-CPU crystal to shut up the intruders.

Quiet.

"That's better. Which CPUs are in there anyway?"

Chika replied after slumping down to the bottom of the door. "Blanc and Rom."

* * *

"That should be twenty minutes. I brought your spear too, just in case."

Chika nods. "Let me provoke the initial attack."

Standing back, the two very quietly opened the door.

"Chamomile Mist. Giizhik Overflow."

Using two of the spells that she used against Arfoire, Chika paralyzed her targets.

"Death Lattice!"

Tossing anti-CPU crystals into the room, Nado watched as the two CPUs stumble and struggle to bring up a hand against his party.

"Tornado Sword!"

Nado seared the two with a wide sideways strike. They collapsed into the bright red grip of Nado's sinister trap.

Panting and exhausted, Nado collapsed onto the ground himself.

Out of the four in the room, only Chika remained conscious. Blanc and Rom collapsed into their own little puddles of blue gore. They looked exactly like the people that totaled her truck. And she can't help but notice a bruise on Nado's scalp. Its imprint were exactly like Rom's boots. Noticeably, the anti-CPU crystals were burning away the blue sigils that marked up her room. Chika came up with a new idea. She grabbed an anti-CPU crystal and waved it over each sigil. The sigils burned away at the crystal's presence.

As she got a life fragment out of her inventory, Chika almost resuscitated Nado, but stopped herself.

She's going to hide the evidence first. Taking out her inventory port, she loads all the documents that were uncovered by Blanc and Rom's excursion, and moved it into storage. She made a list of things that need to be repaired. Her door. The computer. Her printer. No more documents need to be printed. Shutting down.

Now she tries to wake Nado up.

* * *

"Ugh... You can never be ready for a stunt like that... Blanc and Rom are accounted for?"

Chika nods.

"Hm. They probably went to your apartment looking for information. They probably stolen information from me too."

Both of them went silent for a few minutes.

"Should we kill them?" Chika says, nervously. She knows Blanc as a sociopath in this universe.

"...No. Histoire wouldn't know that I'm an oracle if we did, but I would be _so_ fired if they end up dead without any explanation whatsoever. Cube definitely is running things in Lowee if those two are here as well. Blanc's fucking nuts, but Cube's just as bad. We'll have an invasion, and my research would grind to a halt as we repel it."

Looking around, Nado noticed that Chika has a lot of stuff _missing_.

"Nice place. That sigil of yours is very powerful. How'd you do it?"

Taking out a loose array of dried herbs and tobacco, Chika gathered a small bowl of the stuff, and set it alight.

"Heritage. Passed down by my parents before the two ended up dead thanks to a Loweean missile strike. Was one of the first things I knew as we lived in a criminal-filled region, and I had a lot of practice while studying at Gardner Harbor Institute."

"I'm... sorry to hear that."

"How'd you become an oracle anyway?"

Nado raised his eyebrow. If Chika was an enemy spy, she would have no reason to ask. All three nations have oracles, official or not.

"That's what you're wondering? Not how I made these anti-crystals en masse or what anti-CPU devices I'm creating? What my endgame in all this is?"

"Well, I don't really want that."

"Well why didn't you go into programming with us?"

Chika was visibly deflated. Nado obviously tried deflecting her question.

"Do you want to stay the night here or are you going to leave?"

Silence permeated the room between the two. Nado starts coughing.

"Fine. I guess you deserve to learn at least something about me."

Nado put a plate over the smudge to extinguish it, and moved towards the couch.

"Sorry. I am allergic to tobacco, and I need clean, fresh air to think clearly about the story that you'll hear."


	10. Sobering Confessions

"Long ago, we lived in a world without CPUs as our guardians. It is an unfamiliar world. Humans were at the top of the food chain, and made strides in technological fields. This continent, known as the Leanbox province today, had been a center of power for over a century's time."

Nado has Chika Hakozaki enthralled in his story.

"Unfortunately, the culture of this continent during that time is split between three nations - one nation compassionate and diplomatic, but powerless. The strongest nation in the middle has intense individualism and lived all their lives in division. The nation on the other side is the least powerful, and contends with criminals inside and outside its numerous institutions. All three fell when Athena risen to power."

"Who's Athena?" Chika asked.

Nado clenches his fists.

"The most dangerous Titan on the planet. Second place belongs to Rei Ryghts."

Chika raised one of her eyebrows.

"Both have oracles. Rei Ryghts has a fairy-like oracle planting her ass on a thick, red book. That oracle's named Croire, and she's a known sadist, taking pleasure in the suffering of others. Chika, do you know any other oracle that fits that description?"

"Histoire..."

"Precisely. The planet we sit on today wasn't shaped by tectonic forces. It was shaped unnaturally, with the 'guidance' of the CPUs during the reign of The Titans. Even the nations that those two originated from tried to destroy them. They were beholden to no government. Athena in particular was a corporate creation, not a government one. The powers that existed at the time saw her as a serious threat. Predictably, she took on the world by force. Rei was simply a response to that. The two did horrible things, one as an engine of creation, the other honing herself for destruction."

"And Histoire shares responsibility with Athena as to why the world is dependent on CPUs for stability."

"She can't be stopped. Only sealed. Whenever she is destroyed, time itself reverses to a point preceding her destruction, depending on how much damage was done. It never goes further back in time than half of the period she existed. Croire doesn't share this ability."

"Were you in contact with Rei Ryghts? I don't remember."

Nado nods. "She was responsible for destroying many CPUs, but also killed a bunch of people herself and subjected a lot to unmentionable experiments. She has around 1.6 times as much intelligence compared to other people, not that it counts for much when going HDD. Godmode she's a megalomaniac and has an awful temper, leading her to do some very predictable things. She actually did have an engineering degree in her old life if she was to be believed."

"Numerous upstarts wanted to imitate Athena's design for their own personal gain. Rei killed all of them, but can't destroy the original. It was at this time she noticed something terrible happening to the nations she... 'liberated'. Natural disasters. 'Pre-CPU' anomalies. You heard of them, as do I. CPUs leave a scar on the planet that for some reason can't be healed. I'm guessing they cause a large concentration of their own energy into the earth's crust, and without their consciousness, entropy takes over.

In the end Rei outsmarted Athena, and annihilated her base of power. Now, where exactly do I fit in this scenario?"

"You were the oracle for the CPU that came right after."

"Wrong. Mina Nishizawa was the oracle to come right after. She sought to make a 'habitable zone' for the people that struggled to survive off the wreckage. Rei's gambit left her weakened as well, and if the rate at which the CPUs can pop up, she stands no chance at controlling the situation alone. Myself, I was living between the old nations of Tari, Navox, and the new nation of Lowee. The continent was reeling, erupting from the combined stress of it all. I did what I had to in order to survive. It was during that time when I learned of Rei's story from the titan herself. It aligned with what my parents and grandparents recounted to me."

Walking over to grab a drink, Nado opens the fridge. It was empty. Shaking his head, he closed it carefully.

"I'm not the genius behind the inventions we have today. Someone else designed it, tested it, and submitted the results to me, which I then give to other people more qualified to do the work. I'm nothing more than the muscle that keeps the operation together."

Pointing at Blanc and Rom, face-down in a puddle of indigo, Nado returns to the couch.

"Lowee isn't entirely stupid. They know we don't need a CPU to annihilate their country. But anti-CPU crystals are expensive, and that combined with hopes and dreams is what's keeping their nation together. And maybe several documented cases of police brutality, mob-like behavior, and... this. If Lowee wins, the world would be worse off than before, and unlike them..."

Nado stands up again.

"I know what it's like being under someone else's BOOT!"

Rom lets out a whimper from Nado's force stomping on her back.

"Chika, I thought this thing would last a little longer. They're still conscious."

"I didn't test the sigil for more than 24 hours, and I seen what it does to a person in 48 as they bleed themselves out. They were out of it for longer than that. Plus, the anti-CPU crystals have an effect on the sigils, erasing them."

"Well, that's unfortunate. They probably heard everything."

Nado unsheathed his beam saber. It filled the room with an azure glow and a quiet hum.

"Why did you come into Planeptune?"

"W-we wanted to see the sights."

Not even a second after Nado heard that bullshit response he stabs the sword into Blanc's left arm.

"Yeah like watching me grab a drink, steal all my shit, and try to bust in to Chika's fucking dump of an apartment building because you 'wanted to see the sights'. I'd ask you to answer truthfully but you're obviously so untrustworthy I can't even interrogate you. I'd arrest you, but I already know what happens when you wind up behind bars. I can't even get that even less trustworthy piece of shit Histoire to pick your brains, since you know more than enough about me to turn this situation into my worst nightmare. You know what I think of you? You're the scum of the earth, and so long as you act like everyone lives to serve you, that fact won't change."

Blanc clenched her fists.

"I know where I should send you. There's another oracle that wants you dead. You want to say any last words to her, or do you want to tell me the truth now?"

"Kei Jinguchi?" Chika said.

"Hell yeah! How'd you like being riddled with bullet holes?"

"Shut the fuck up! I know you're keeping us alive because you need something!" Blanc said.

"Yeah, I need you to not die on Planeptune soil. That could be anywhere. A shallow ditch in Lowee perhaps?"

"Gangbanging motherfucker!" Blanc screamed.

"Wait, you actually _saw_ that sex tape I made before? Man, that was like, 20 or 30 years ago. Probably older than you."

"You know as well as I do that shit's not true!"

"You do look like a kid." Nado said.

"You want to say that to my face, bitch!?"

"Go ahead and try. You're five-foot-one, no dick, no tits, and even if you had a dick it won't be bigger than two inches."

"RRAUGH!" Blanc screamed as Nado mentioned her shortcomings. She pounded at the floor weakly for over a minute trying to push herself off the ground, to no avail.

"That's what I thought. Drop the 'I'm better than you' act if you know what's good for you, and consider the choices you have."

"Rei Ryghts... You were in contact with her for how long? How did we not know..."

"Because apparently, Lastation is better at digging up secrets than you are." Nado said. "Even Chika Hakozaki is better at it than you, and she's not a CPU or an oracle."

_(Yet...)_

"Do you seriously think that your absolute leadership is what would make the world better? No feedback, no agency, just your vision?" Chika said. "I don't want that kind of shit, I just want a better life for myself. And look at this! I live in a dump! Vert's clinging on for dear life!"

"People like you will get corrupted by power. You don't know what it's like to make a choice and live with the consequences. You'll always want more..."

"And the kettle calls the pot black." Chika said, drawing her spear.

"Chika, enough. I actually have credentials in psychology here, so let me speak." Nado interrupted. "You said something about Rei Ryghts. Did her appearance at Crimson Island validate your incursion on our country?"

Two minutes of silence passed.

"Just because I'm not a genius doesn't mean I'm automatically stupid. I had multiple centuries of life. I used them well. I'm going to make a phone call. Chika, watch the two, make sure they don't do anything stupid."

* * *

Rei Ryghts made herself dinner. Steak and fries, with a salad besides.

Oh. I rhymed.

...

Anyways, her phone rang.

"Hell-lo, Rachel speaking, who's this?"

A lot of static can be heard on the other end. She can't make out any messages.

"Typical."

Hanging up, Rachel dialed a new number.

"Y-yeah, whatd'ya want?"

"Blanc and Rom are discovered in Leanbox committing crimes, and I'm in seriously deep shit because of it."

"D-don't tell me you..."

"Yeah. Worst case. As long as their memories remain, I can't let them back into the public."

"Wait, just their memories? If you incata-erm-capacitated them while they already know about both your anti-CPU crystals and your psychological skills, w-what did you do to knock them down?"

"There was this weird and quite frankly deadly sigil planted close to the capture location. Turns them into zombies trying to duplicate the symbol repeatedly."

"Leanbox..."

Immediately Rei dropped her phone and rushed towards her library. She's been keeping textbooks on many of the major regions. She discovered enough articles about the late CPU period mythologies around the region, written by Navox's former leadership and military forces. She returned to her phone.

"A-apparently there's myths and legends about the continent having forests where people could wander for months at a time, and those lucky enough to escape after two days have no memory of entering the place, and always return stark naked if lucky. I didn't think it was truthful, but perhaps those reports could help us now. Who made the sigil? I'd like to talk to them."

"Hakozaki?"

Another person came to the phone.

"Yes?"

"Do you have any memory-altering spells of any kind?"

A long silence.

"Are... are you still there, miss?" Rei asked.

"Technically... Memory wipes are exhausting, physically and mentally, and mastering them takes around half a century. I'm not sure I'm the right person to ask."

"... Damn it."

"Also I don't even have a proper teacher for memory wipes in the first place. All the magic I learned was from my long-dead parents."

"You know what? I'm interested in asking these CPUs a few questions, but I won't get any answers regardless. Do you have mind-reading?"

"A big fat no on that. If I did... Eh, doesn't matter. No mind reading spells."

Another long silence.

"I'm going to go eat." Rei said. "Tomorrow, I'm going to visit Planeptune and beat the living shit out of the reset button."

* * *

"Come on, Nep, I know you're stronger than that!"

Neptune struggled to pull up IF's bike out of the ditch.

"But Iffy..."

"No buts! You brought this on yourself!"

"But I didn't-"

"Even if you didn't you wouldn't bother to say something when someone TOUCHED. MY. BIKE. Right?"

Eventually the bike reached the top of the hillside.

"Aw hell, it's caked in shit, and scratched like a lamp post."

"I think one of the farmer's animals did that."

"Not like he'll pay much for that crap. Come on, let's go."

"Whatever..." Neptune said with a sigh. IF shrugged and started checking her bike. Seeing grime in the exhaust only made her angrier.

"Thanks to you, we lost precious time and energy. This is a circus! The only way we could stand a chance at changing anything is reaching Histoire. Did you at least find something regarding Planeptune's Basilicom location in this timeline?"

"Yeah, for some reason it's way too close to Lowee and very far away from Leanbox. In fact, literally on the other side of the world. This place is either super small or the CPUs pretty much rule the entire world."

"I'm also seeing that this timeline would be coming to a close soon. If we don't hurry, we'll be marooned."

"Marooned?"

"Or possibly, with all functional definitions considered, dead. Perhaps the timeline would backtrack to sooner than our entry position, perhaps the entire timeline would cease to exist, period. Either way, we're on a strict deadline here, and with the loop being this tight Histoire's our only chance."

"Perhaps we're in the wrong 12th-dimensional plane?"

"Neptune, I don't have time entertaining the idea that you know what I'm talking about."

Finally, IF starts her motorcycle.

"Let's go. Tomorrow, we go to..."

A location appeared on her cell phone's map.

"Yodachi? Strange name, but when you have a nation that large..."

"How many subjects do I have in this dimension?"

"Half the world under Planeptune's control... What the hell... Very few followers, and Leanbox doesn't exist yet..."

* * *

One thing's for sure though. Neptune's onto something...

And IF there is going to be another chapter in this exercise, she wouldn't read my notes again.

You bitch.

"Oh sure, blame me for ruining your narrative..." Neptune says in her sleep, while riding on IF's back.


	11. Eleven Dimensions

"Rei's going to reset the timeline." Chika said aloud.

Nado looked at her. "I don't blame her. This situation is as fucked as it can be."

"Do oracles have unique ways of manifesting? Histoire's a fairy, but you, Mina, and Kei look human."

Nado shakes his head. "What is the _point_ of asking more questions anymore? Yodachi is _literally_ on the other side of the planet! You won't _remember_ any of the things I would tell you anymore."

"What's the harm in asking then, you pretentious bitch-ass prick?" Blanc says. "You're going to kill us all anyway."

Nado lets out a weak laugh.

"Croire and Histoire are oracles for titans. They once looked human."

"What about you and Mina? Did you become an oracle the same way?"

"Without an oracle, the transformative effects of the CPU crystals have miserable consequences. They'll look like fat, human-faced bugs."

"Not really what I asked, but thanks anyway."

"The CPU crystals were reverse-engineered and apparently needed an external control mechanism to work. I don't know that control mechanism by heart, it's just a bunch of loose data in a filing cabinet. If you want a full explanation all you can do is _wish_ that you'll get another chance to ask these questions, because Rei would probably reset the timeline without us remembering anything that happened the past week."

Chika frowned and slouched on the couch.

"If it makes you feel any better, I know _one_ spell. Just one. It's a powerful one that requires a lot of concentration."

"Is it teleportation? Are you going to make a big hole in spacetime and move us to Histoire's office? It sounds dangerous and probably very stupid."

"It is dangerous, and stupid. I avoid using it because of its high power requirement. I am not adept in magic, and if Histoire knows I can teleport, she'll develop countermeasures against me using that power. It's one-use only."

Glancing back at Blanc and Rom, Chika shakes her head.

Nado snaps his fingers. "Which is why I'm having _you_ meet Histoire under hostile circumstances. You know more than enough to prevent all this from happening. All you need to do is tell me what happened."

Chika's eyes bulged. "How? You obviously didn't trust me even with a stapler!"

Nado brought out a small black box. "Give me this, and say the words 'Long time no see! Check out my new mixtape.' It's so out of character for you that I'll have no time for anything else."

"Okay but what's-"

"-Don't open it! You'll ruin the effect! It's an artifact of the gods! Open Pandora's box, and all hell would break loose!"

A heavy silence filled the room.

"Really?" Blanc said.

"I have no idea what he's talking about, what is he talking about?" Rom asked.

"Some stupid shit, for sure. I don't know who this Panda-Ra is but he seems particularly stupid for keeping hell in a box."

"Philistines." Nado grumbles. "You ready to rock and roll?"

Chika nods her head.

"Okay. Get ready!"

* * *

Neptune and IF were racing towards Yodachi. Little do they know, their time is already up.

"Can't this thing go any faster?"

Or perhaps the narrator is trying to give them a hint.

"It's going as fast as it can! We're moving faster than the train!"

Over the horizon is nothing but ocean. If IF and Neptune want to continue, they need to pass over water.

"Nep! We're using the bullet train! Get some credits out to pay for the tickets!"

"But these things cost, like-"

"NOW, Neptune!"

IF stopped her bike. Neptune scrambled towards the ticket booth. Everyone was staring at the two, dumbfounded at their brazen haste. Especially as IF pocketed her bike into hyperspace, seeing the machine disappear visually and materially, and subsequently sprinted straight through her bike as if it didn't exist in that space in the first place. The ticket vendor stumbled to the back of the booth, falling backwards in his chair. IF knocked on the window screen and waved cash around. Eventually, and nervously, he answered.

"W-where do you want to go?"

IF took her cell phone out and projected an overhead view of Yodachi to the glass. As if it was generated by an AI, it shown the transit route from Coastlight to Yodachi on the screen in bright red, and the cityscape in indigo blue, using nothing more than a few physical maps. The ticket vendor screamed.

"Hey nipdick, eyes up front! We need to go to Yodachi, and we need to do it immediately!"

IF slammed her fist against the glass. The projection shaken around visually for a moment because of the vibration.

"O-okay! That's two five-zone tickets! 760 credits!"

IF paid the ticket vendor. The tickets themselves were rather inexpensive.

"You see why we need to watch our money around here?"

...

The commotion attracted the attention of Ivo Towers, who was about to head back home from work when he saw the two gratuitously display their superior technology and cut in front of several other commuters lining up for their own tickets.

"Found two suspicious, violent individuals, potentially goddesses. Running a tail on them now. Car needs pickup from Coastlight Central Station."

* * *

Rei Ryghts flew over the Tari-Planeptune border in her jetpack. Sure, the emissions coming from her jetpack are noticeable, but so is going HDD. And her jetpack consumes less energy, and therefore not only has a longer range but also has a lower heat signature.

And for what she's about to do, she needs as much energy as she can get.

"All units. This is Nado. A diplomatic meeting with a titan CPU ended disastrously. Evacuate Yodachi immediately. Do not interfere. This message also goes for any dumbass that thinks our anti-CPU crystals would work against the titan. She has too much experience using them for the measure to have any chance of taking her down."

Rei smiled. Her inner personality liked the kind of attention that she's going to get at the capital. It's been a while since she tasted proper fear. But since she's not in HDD yet, she understands what her mission profile would be. Soon, she would send herself backwards in time. It's strange though, why is Nado sending this kind of information? Does he have a surprise in store?

Rei had to slow down. She needs more communication.

Suddenly, her cell phone rings. She takes out a device the size of a brick, and lands in the forests outside Planeptune. She hears Nado's voice on the other end, modulated to an infrasound frequency.

Those implants still hurt, even a millennia after the surgery.

"I changed the mission objectives. I'm using a teleportation spell so that Chika would be dishing out the finishing blow. I want her to see what kinds of things this nasty sigil can do to the target and report to me afterward. You do what you can to keep her distracted."

Rei feels slightly insulted, but is well aware of what this means. Chika can deliver the information much more discreetly, and she has more information at her disposal. She has to admire Nado's work, leaving ambiguity in all the right places. Even Rei can't wordsmith her way around him. He's a natural diplomat, heck even a natural spy, but he has poor technical skills outside of the environmental sciences. Little did she know that Nado's planning assumed she'll reach Yodachi as soon as possible.

He really should have not bet his life on that assumption.

* * *

Uranus is at Coastlight when Nado called all units to evacuate Yodachi.

"Oh. Oh no… Uzume's still at Yodachi. There's no way she'll..."

Shaking her head, she gets up.

"I'm going to ignore Nado's orders. I'm facing whatever that 'titan' of his is."

She hears laughing from the cage she's guarding.

"Hahaha. Do you have **any** idea what a titan truly represents?"

Uranus turns to her captive, Arfoire. To her horror, the anti-CPU crystals are gone. Someone decided to _take_ them from the facility. But who?

"Let me... show you."

The prisoner blasted out of her cage with the force of a nuclear weapon. Uranus rolled across the ground, feeling around for her chain-sickle. Discarding a royal-looking and uniquely (for Planeptune) traditional dress, she reveals advanced body armor underneath.

Coastlight is annihilated. The only ones remaining are Uranus, Arfoire, and a third, unknown party, standing behind Arfoire with a shortbow and all the anti-CPU crystals. Before Uranus can address the intruder, Arfoire was already on top of her.

"**HAHAHAHA**! You think such **PRIMITIVE, CONCEALED** weapons stand a chance against me? You might as well be using a **SPOON!**"

* * *

Croire opened a portal to Lastation's Basilicom.

"Croire."

Psyche turned around to face the pint-sized despot. Croire, the mastermind of mayhem, hopped off her book and floated behind it, feet side by side and arms spread wide. Her pages flipped rapidly.

"Psyche. Kei. It seems you two didn't go through with the plan I laid out for you, hand under silver platter. Mind explaining yourself?"

A silence permeated the room while Psyche's face hardened. Kei decided to answer.

"Before the final phase of execution we noticed that Lowee crowned a new CPU. That CPU was unpredictable and-"

"Unpredictable to **YOU**! Do you think I didn't remember this contingency?! I obviously _planned_ for this to happen, and yet here you are, your forces sitting on your ass, doing nothing! Did I not do enough for you to appreciate your patronage?"

"But-"

"Kei, shut up. Let the adults do the talking in this room."

As she waved off her oracle, Psyche re-opened a few documents sent to them long before the fighting started.

"You didn't make that contingency _explicit_ when briefing us about the plan."

"Your little incident would have brought Rei Ryghts' attention anyways, which I'm sure more likely than not you would have accounted for. Rei Ryghts would have been in an enormously public space, and considering that, Lowee's CPU would have investigated _personally_ into the matter while putting Cube into power as a puppet!"

"I thought you and Ryghts ruled Tari together."

"You think _I_ was the one with the bright idea to kill off all the CPUs on the planet? I've stayed with her for a while, but she's a goddamn hypocritical zealot! She swore bogus oaths and thought she was doing what was best for humanity, and turned into a nutjob that enjoyed the grisly work required to make her visions a reality. But now she decides to fucking throw all that away, and keep her powers contained because she wants to play **pacifist**! Watching and listening to her is like watching paint dry, and not being able to huff the fumes! **Fuck** her!"

Psyche's eyes widened in a rare display of emotion. It was the first time anybody, let alone an oracle, admitted to her face that they liked huffing paint fumes.

"Oh, I'm not done with you yet! You decided to pussy out of an operation we _agreed_ to undertake in exchange for resources, because of a hiccup that should be plain as fucking **day** to anyone with a brain cell. I want those things back, **Jinguchi**."

Psyche threw a set of keys to Croire.

"Address is on the tag. We didn't bother touching them until we completed the mission, because I know better than to play around with someone's deposit. After all... that's what Lowee did to me." Psyche said. "And people say I'm heartless..."

Croire opens up a portal to a locked warehouse. She senses significant amounts of share energy behind the door.

"I'm glad your soul is hypocrisy-free."

"I'm happy someone concedes I have a soul to begin with."

"Oh, you. Don't tempt me with devilish thoughts."

Psyche cracked a smile. It's obviously fake.

"I don't think you'd have accepted the mission anyways if you knew Cube was going to be in charge."

Psyche shook her head. "Don't do it again, Croire, or we'll refuse to do business with you."

The titan oracle passed through the portal. The wormhole closed. Coincidentally, Psyche heard a knock on the door...

* * *

Chika teleported straight into the Basilicom. The warp spell was noisy, and everyone in the room, including Histoire and Uzume, was startled by the intrusion. It took a few seconds for everyone to see the entity that moved out of the portal.

"Why is Chika-sy here?"

Uzume's eyes widened. Chika was probably taking an overt approach because she has information that could be acted upon.

"Chika! Why are you here?! What's that spell you just used?!"

Histoire was angry and confused. Chika popped in without warning.

"You didn't hear Nado's transmission? Rei Ryghts is coming at us, and I was sent here to help!"

"What the FUCK do you think you could do to help?! You're HUMAN! You stand NO chance against Rei Ryghts!"

Uzume was on top of Chika immediately.

"You lied! No way Nado-sy would have trusted you, not after your constant eavesdropping and procastinatin' on the stuff he gives you!"

Chika couldn't believe it. The people she needed the trust from the most turned their knives directly at her.

"Uzume doesn't trust you. You also smell like that wicked witch of Leanbox! Gives me a bunch of gross and sick feelings!"

The wicked witch... Chika looks down at her garments.

Her hands are covered in indigo CPU blood.

"This... is... what... made... that... smell?"

_SSSSSSSSSSSS..._

Chika couldn't help herself. She may exaggerate, but in a situation like this, the only thing she can feel is-

"Eww! You peed on the floor!" Uzume shrieked.

-her bladder.

"Wait, Uzume, you just discovered that something smells like..." Histoire's eyes widened. "Oh no... Wicked witch of Leanbox… That thing..."

* * *

Uranus can barely fight off Arfoire's grasp. Her strength is fading, and Arfoire's hand is searing her neck. The weapon she's holding did nothing to fend off her attack.

* * *

"This is really bad." Histoire shook her head. "Uranus! Uranus, come in!"

Planeptunian guards rushed into the building. "There's nothing you can do. Coastlight is annihilated."

"Oh no..." Histoire's shedding tears for her lost ward. "She barely had even a few weeks..."

"Is there anything we can do?" Chika said. She tried composing herself, but it's hard to keep a straight face considering what she just did to herself.

"No. Uranus is dead."

* * *

Neptune and IF arrived at Yodachi's basilicom. Several floors above ground is where they want to be, and they just emerged from the underground express subway station connecting the capital to the rest of the world. The two are whispering, which is uncharacteristic of their usual personality.

"Okay, Nep. We need you to fly."

"But I don't have share energy and I don't think it's smart to greet a past Histy with a CPU she never seen before. What if she sees me as an enemy?"

The narrator isn't helping you on that regard. Figure it out for yourself.

"Fine. I can't use these share crystals myself. Do we keep them as bribes, or find ourselves a ticket?"

Neptune looks at her watch.

"I don't think we can bribe guards with share crystals."

"Thought so."

"I know a thing or two about illusion magic. I can cloak us for a few turns of the clock."

"Then do it. I don't want to be stranded here."

Ivo Towers was listening in.

"Oh no..."

"What the hell now, Nep?" IF is right. What the hell now?

"We picked up a tail." Fuck you, Neptune. "He heard us. Expect a fight up top."

"How can you tell?" IF asked.

"Don't taunt Morphy the Dingo. Or something."

"Why even bother with the cloak in the first place then?" IF really reflects on my annoyance.

"So fewer people can shoot at us as we go." Sure, let's go with that.

* * *

Rei Ryghts is closing in on the Basilicom. As expected, there's still some amount of resistance. All of it is automated. This is easy for an engineering master like herself.

"Asterisk."

One by one, the weapon systems of each defense robot exploded, leaving the machines impotent.

"Let's hope the next thing I see are a bunch of drooling idiots and not a pinned agent. Considering how late I am though, "pinned agent" seems to be the likely scenario."

Suddenly, she sees a hot wave of air move upwards to the balcony of her target's suite.

"What... That's not natural."

Frowning, she circles the basilicom. Frowning some more, she stares intently at the distorting silhouette. Her eyes glow with malice.

"Honestly, I feel pretty insulted right now. They think I can't see that? I'll show those little shits what blindness really feels like..."

A bright flash of light bathes Yodachi. People cowering on the streets can be heard screaming.

* * *

"That's the last one."

Chika filled the room with sigils. Uzume is blindfolded, and Histoire kept her eyes closed, focused on meditation.

Chika knew that the sigil won't work on a clear mind. It's reliant on unfocused adrenaline for the subject to commit grand spamming.

She opens a scroll in front of the oracle. "Histoire…"

Yes. Blanc and Rom experienced pure, distilled fear while compelled to replicate the cursed scrawl. Frozen in their minds, they see an endless nightmare of the same image, changing in canvas, in ink, lighting, texture...

"You need to look at this scroll to be ready for the fight. Just a peek is fine."

It obviously won't work against Rei Ryghts when she's in HDD, being too much of a megalomaniac to be frightened by the symbol. Chika needs something much subtler.

"Yes, that's right..."

No words leave Histoire's mouth. A different sigil appears in front of her, entrancing the outmoded mind, emptying it completely.

And that sigil is the same one Chika planted all over the room. Not the one in her apartment building.

Nado is ready for the one in her apartment building.

"Show yourself!"

A hot blast filled the basilicom. The sigils around the room painted the back wall.

Rei Ryghts entered the battlefield. She eliminated the sigils from the room Chika's standing in.

_Her_ mind is filled with a million ways to beat the shit out of Chika, Histoire, and Uzume if any of them threaten her objectives. She can go toe to toe with Histoire, but when multiple people are around she needs to purge unknowns.

Especially if one of those unknowns decided to play around with cloaking technology.

"You think you didn't reveal yourself coming up here? You dare insult my intelligence?!"

Chika climbed back up. "Uzume! Plan B, you-"

Chika felt a strong force push her against the wall _again._

"If you know what's good for you, _human_, you'll play dead."

Chika went limp against the wall.

"Oops, maybe you _are_ dead. I won't bother to check."

"Why..."

"Just _one_ more problem for me to deal with before moving on to the next target."

"Why are you doing this..."

**WHAM**

Rei planted her palm on the back of Uzume's neck.

"You won't remember. I'll make sure of it."

**WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM**

"Really, really sure of it."

The same indigo fluid stained the wall Uzume's facing. Letting go, the grinning titan turned her attention to Histoire.

"Hm. You're in the same room as me and didn't raise a single finger."

Circling her prey, her expression changed when she saw Histoire's face.

"Oh. That's probably why."

Histoire stares blankly into space, ignoring the massive threat laid before her. Chika slowly gets back up.

"Oh, back for more?"

Grabbing the verdette by the neck, Rei presses her face close to Chika's ear, and whispered what she knew to her.

"We attracted an audience. Someone's using invisibility spells or gear. Fake some resistance, and play dead for a little longer, will ya?"

The rest took two minutes. Rei didn't choke Chika, instead betting that Chika would make the act look a little more convincing.

_('Ugh, she's overacting.')_

Scanning her surroundings, she was able to observe the clusterfuck that's unfolding. Uzume's knocked out, Chika's supposed to be playing dead, Histoire's in some kind of trance, and there is an invisible agent (or two) watching her actions. All she needs now is her oracle to come in and ruin everything.

**WHAM**

The door slammed open. It was a cop, carrying a shotgun.

"Shit! Not you!"

**BANG BANG**

The police officer fired two rounds at Rei Ryghts. One missed, but they were shotgun pellets. They were also loaded with anti-CPU crystal particulate, so they hurt. A lot. Rei de-powered into her human form. The officer sprinted towards the stairs.

**POP POP**

Rei returned fire with a derringer pistol she keeps for emergencies. Two rounds fired. One hits. It doesn't penetrate the body armor, but it was enough for the cop to tumble down the stairs and drop his weapon.

"I'm going to need this, thank you very much."

Checking the load inside, Rei moves back into the room to sweep. The weapon literally hurts her hands, but she sees Neptune on the ground, and a trail of crimson red blood leading past the viewport afforded by the door she's coming in.

"Iffy..."

In layman's words - someone's waiting right at the door.

"Fuck it."

**BANG BANG**

Rei shot around the visible intruder to force her to move in a direction. None of the pellets hit, but the target passes out. Tossing the shotgun to the side, Rei transforms again, and fires a blast of energy at the door.

**KRACKOOM**

"FUCK!"

The door is in pieces. The secondary target is nowhere to be found. Visibly. She got audio out of her at least. Though... Neptune disappeared.

**VRRM**

That doesn't sound like it should be indoors.

**KRACKOOM**

Breaking the floor in front of her target, Rei came in to observe her work. Inside the crater lie two young ladies, and a motorcycle. IF was sliding on her butt, pointing a machine pistol at Rei Ryghts. The titan remains unfazed.

"State your business here. I'm about to reset a timeline, and your intrusion is very... unappreciated. You have ten seconds."

"We wanted to talk to Histoire."

"How do you know about Histoire? You're one of her agents, or are you here to destroy her?"

IF grasped instinctively as Rei grabbed her by the neck. The titan could just kill her. But she decided to show some leniency to these bugs. Pulling IF, Neptune, and the bike up through the floor again, and setting down the unconscious, she kept her grip on IF.

"Chika, rise from your grave."

"I'm up, I'm up!" Chika brushed off the dust and grime from her dress.

"Now, young lady." Rei tightened her grip around IF's neck, grinning wildly. "Explain."

As she was dropped onto the floor, IF spent a good five seconds coughing and spitting out blood. "We were sent back in time to handle an anomaly that's appearing in this timeline. Something's changing history, but what is doing that is unknown. Histoire told us to investigate and-"

"So you are agents of Histoire. Interesting..."

"There were a lot of changes between this timeline and the one we came from. Planeptune's government wasn't this complex. Our timeline, there weren't elections until a CPU came in that was lazy enough that the functions of the government had to be carried out by the populace. We didn't use or rely on alternative energy sources. We had no space program."

Rei got a massive headache. Trying to understand people while maintaining HDD is possible, but it's a lot easier to do it either without HDD or without listening to people in the first place. It's unfortunate for her that it feels so _good_ to be in that form, because otherwise the choice would be clear.

"Chika, keep these two occupied. I need to think, and I think best when I don't have these wings on me."

Rei disabled HDD and planted her feet to the ground.

"Hrmm…"

"What is it, Rei?" Chika's spear pointed at IF's throat.

"If you can travel through space and time, and in a single universe there are 11 dimensions... Hm..."

"Neptune said something about a 12th dimensional plane, but she's not particularly bright."

"I'm going to check your bike, assuming that it's the machine responsible for your time travel exploits."

"You are not touching my damn b-"

**CLICK**

"Perhaps you want to do this the hard way? I can do that too." Rei pointed IF's own machine pistol at the brunette's temple.

"... Go ahead and break it, or something..." IF whimpered.

"That's what I thought. Machines are like putty in my hands, so don't think I won't be returning it back."

Rei's eyes widened.

"Sacre bleu, especially for something as 'user friendly' as this thing. How does it not ever end up stolen? I didn't even need to revert my transformation here, let alone can the megalomania. Ugh, speaking of which I should take my meds again."

A cracker, some pills, and a few minutes later, Rei has everything she needs.

"W-well, your bike can move along more than eleven dimensions. Someone altered it last t-time you used it so that when you travelled back in time, you travelled along a twelfth dimension, which means you landed in a different timeline or even a different universe from your own."

"You mean that we're in the wrong place all along?"

"I r-reversed the error, and you have the option to go home. Perhaps your Histoire is friendlier than ours. Does your universe have infighting factions that have the ability to make these kinds of changes or know about how this kind of thing works?"

A minute of silence passed through the room.

"No. There was the Time Eater, but that creature's dead already."

"Oh. Oh no... I-it came from our world. Go back to where you came from. You do NOT want to know what happens next."

Loading Neptune onto the back of her bike, IF travelled back to her universe.

**VRRM VRRM**

The portal opens, then closes. Rei Ryghts and Chika remain, with Histoire in a trance, and Uzume unconscious.

"Croire's coming."

Turning to face Rei, Chika grabs her spear. "What could we do?"

"R-reset the timeline... Reset it before she kills us all!"

Rei's frightened by the prospect of Croire coming in. She can take her on alone, but when Croire has access to the reset button in an opportunity like this, the risks, when understood, are mind-boggling. What would Croire do with such immense power?

A portal opened behind the two.

"That's right, Rei... I was responsible for that little distraction. I needed a couple of blokes friendly to Histoire…"

"That's not even _their_ Histoire!" Chika shouted.

"Funny. You seem to be suborned to Rei Ryghts. Let me fix that."

**KRACKOOM**

"Chika!"

"What are you going to do in that weak, pathetic form of yours? You think that you stand a chance against me without using share energy? Even in HDD I could run circles around you! Give up! I outsmarted you this time, Ryghts!"

**FWEEE**

**KRACKOOM KRACKOOM**

"Your stupid subordinate left Histoire out in the open! Tearing her in half is easy as pie!"

Summoning the strength to rip the tome in half, Croire's hands were bathed in a bright red energy. Sending a bolt of pure malice at her target, she becomes blinded by a bright light.

But her target disappeared.

"How? Where are you, Histoire!"

**FZZSCHT**

"I'm holding her right behind you." a male voice said.

Croire looked down. A bright, cyan blue blade pierced her tome, and her chest. It pulled itself out, and she tumbled to the ground.

"That's what you get for angering Planeptune's oracle, Croire."

Nado still has his beam saber primed to strike at any moment.

"I've learned a lot about what happened today, thanks to these current events. I'll be taking these lessons myself."

Nado looks back at his female company.

"While I'd love to squeeze in a few more goodbyes, the circumstances given here are more than enough for me to assume that we'll be headed towards a much darker future if I don't do something now."

Chika's corpse remains smouldering in a crater.

"I think it's obvious things didn't go according to plan. I'll finish this job myself."

Nado raises his sword, pinning Histoire's tome to the wall.

* * *

"Get in."

Noire entered the room, with her finished report. It was vague, poorly written, and reeked of amateurish storytelling you'd hear from a drunk spending his payday on ethanol..

Kei's expression was blank. Psyche was cr/nging.

"Noire, w hat exactly is this?"

Psyche's questi.n only made Noiяe's head sink further/

"I tried my bESt..."

Kei sh#kes her head. Lookiη g over the p⍺ per, however, sh/ notices nothing □︎u⧫︎ □︎ ︎ ⧫︎he □︎r ︎ina❒︎⍓︎. In fact... it l0 ks like i$t% has a rΞ?s..ab/e explanation, but t's incredibly ❖︎ag◆︎ ︎. It did line u₱ with wh⌰⌱ they know a●︎❒︎eaa ︎⍓︎.

"w ⍷/ / I m&s¥ ₳

* * *

-LOAD

\- YOUR CURRENT GAME WILL BE LOST. LOAD FROM PREVIOUS SAVE? Y/N

-Y

\- LOADING...

\- ERROR. A PROBLEM WAS FOUND IN THE PREVIOUS SAVE AND IT MAY BE CORRUPTED. CONTINUE? Y/N

-Y

\- LOADING...

* * *

-LOAD

\- LOADING...

\- ERROR. A PROBLEM WAS FOUND IN THE PREVIOUS SAVE AND IT MAY BE CORRUPTED. CONTINUE? Y/N

-N

\- QUIT? Y/N

-Y

* * *

-LOAD

\- LOADING...

\- PRESS ANY KEY TO CONTINUE.

* * *

"Did you know that you ⌰⌱th□︎r︎ina❒︎⍓︎ when you're drunk?"


End file.
